


Precious Doll in This Ugly World

by eri_quin



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Anti-hero Teams, Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Gender Roles, Genderbending, Human Trafficking, Multi, Organized Crime, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-03-26 04:15:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 17
Words: 79,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A female Ash Ketchum is faced with being unable to fulfill her dreams with prejudices against her gender, and realizing that the world is a dark, ugly place. She wants to go on a pokemon journey, but the world isn't a safe place and she steadily learns the ugliness and takes off rose-colored lenses, while getting snatched up by the Teams.</p>
<p>    Alternate summary: A female Ash wants to go on a pokemon journey, only to find out how dangerous it can really be. Rose-colored lens are smashed to pieces as she gets stuck facing human trafficking, the evils and desperation of humanity, and that there are gray areas for everything and everyone. Her unlikely saviors turn out to be the criminal Teams everyone warned her against...</p>
<p>    Warnings: Dark themes, graphic violence, sexual situations, criminal activity, crime themes, human trafficking, etc... </p>
<p>    Pairings: Eventual Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, Cyrus/Fem!Ash (BurntLedgerShipping with genderbent Ash twist, yeah I made that up ;P), but starts out slowly and separately with ShatterShipping (Gio/Ash), KyogreCrossingShipping (Archie/Ash), BurningAshesShipping (Maxie/Ash), and RedTreeShipping (Cyrus/Ash). Slight AmazedGeekageShipping (Colress/Ash) will be included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Girl Lost

Seven days ago, her father left them behind. He was leaving to go on a pokémon journey. He would call and check in with them all the time. He promised them.

Her mother screamed "Liar! Liar! Liar!" over and over when she was alone in her room late at night, and her little six year old self would listen in behind her mother's closed and locked door.

This, Ashelia Ketchum realized, was the beginning of a different life for her.

In Pallet, it was a rather small population and everyone knew everyone and eventually "everything." Her father's abandonment (this was a word she'd learned from "Mrs. 1273" when she walking passed her one day, after school was over) was widely spread and gossiped about. She tended to listen closely and observe everyone, and notice little things that people liked to think she wouldn't understand or catch in the first place, because of her age.

She didn't have friends her age. There were a lack of girls around her age, and the few girls close enough didn't like the same things she did. She loved pokémon, she played rougher and more actively, didn't dress up, and tended to hang around boys more because of this. She was even more content to shorten her name to 'Ash', because it was shorter, catchier, and easier to say, despite how boyish it sounded.

Ash didn't care.

But even if she played more and hung around the boys, she wasn't really friends with them either. They didn't want to be "friends" with a  _girl_. Some of them were dumb enough to even think she had cooties. She always rolled her eyes at that –it was so stupid and immature.

And so, a lack of friends led a friendless her to be alone and compensate by paying attention to everyone and everything. She noticed a lot of things, saw stuff she was sure she wasn't supposed to know. Listened and probably learned about things she was too young to know about. Watched and knew things that she was much more comfortable not knowing.

Sometimes she wished she had been born a male and could just play with Gary Oak and the other boys, and be dumb with the rest of them.

But she was a girl and she hated how lonely that made her.

* * *

Gary, the famous Professor Oak's grandson, was technically her only real friend, despite how much he always said he wasn't and called her "a stupid girl!" Whenever she became too bored or lonely, she would always walk the long way to his house and pester him until he agreed to hang out with her, and the two of them would secretly play together. She was doing that right then too. Only, Gary saw her coming while he was walking out of his house and his nose scrunched up.

"What are  _you_  doing here?" he asked snottily.

She visibly bristled. "Visiting you, duh!"

"Hmph! Well, I'm going to go to the park to play with my friends, so I don't have time for you," Gary folded his arms across his chest.

"Can I come?" Ash became excited.

"No way! Boys only!" he pulled down an eyelid and stuck out his tongue. After, he straightened and began walking away from her. "Anyway, maybe I'll play with you some other time. Smell ya later!"

Ash pouted and wondered what she was going to do now. The door opening again caught her attention, and she saw Professor Oak getting ready to fetch the newspaper she just noticed was by her feet.

"Asheila! What are you doing here? Ah, if you're looking for Gary, I believe he just left," the professor told her apologetically.

Ash's pout worsened. "It's Ash, Professor. And I know. He just left."

Oak smiled at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "I know, why don't you come with me and look at the pokémon out back. You can even help me take care of some of them, if you'd like."

Her eyes brightened up. "Really? I want to, Professor! Please?"

He chuckled and soon enough Ash was looking over a multitude of pokémon. After lunchtime, Oak was observing a flock of bird pokémon that Ash didn't know what they were, while she frolicked around with a few Rattata and Pidgey.

She loved poké́mon. They loved her and would never leave her, so she would love them and never leave them back.

* * *

Ever since, she spent even more time at Gary's home (which was also Professor Oak's home too). But she didn't really play with Gary anymore, who had also taken to playing more with his friends and pretending to have pokémon battles.

It was okay, because she played with pokémon for real and "Sammy" would tell her and teach her all about pokémon, which was much better than playing with all those dumb boys anyway. Sammy, which Professor Oak let her call him, had quickly become her best friend (even if he was actually her only). He would tell her lots of stories, and she especially loved the ones about his pokémon journey, back before he decided he'd rather become a Pokémon Researcher. Her absolute favorite was about Sammy meeting a boy named Ash (just like her!), who he had met when he had rescued a Celebi and had traveled to the future. He'd even showed Ash a sketch he'd drawn of Celebi and the Pikachu that had belonged to the Ash from his story. She decided she would definitely want a Pikachu for her starter just like Ash the Boy.

That had led to Sammy smiling sadly and chuckling, and she had watched him in confusion.

" _You remind me a lot of him, Ash," Sammy sounded really sad and wistful. "Although, he was a lot more…dense and louder. And much more impulsive and rasher than you, certainly. At least you have a good head on your shoulders and think more before you act or say anything. Hopefully that'll stay with you while you grow up, huh?"_

But Sammy had still sounded really sad and like he'd missed his old friend, which made Ash want to have a Pikachu as her starter even more.

Drawn into her thoughts, she'd only broken out of them when she heard the doorbell. She curiously and eagerly began to make her way from her bedroom to the ground floor of her home, when she heard Sammy and her mother talking. Guessing it was Sammy who'd come, she guiltily stayed hidden and listened in.

"Professor, there's no way I can sign this," her mother sounded unhappy. "In fact, I refuse to."

"Delia, think of your daughter. Ash absolutely loves pokémon. Won't you just let her come and enjoy the summer camp?" Sammy tried to reason with her.

"…"

Ash bit her lip as she waited for her mother's reply. She knew now what was going on –Sammy was trying to get her mother to sign the permission slip for Ash to attend the Pokémon Summer Camp he was hosting. She wasn't sure how well it'd work; her mother seemed to really dislike pokémon these days.

"I don't want to get her too interested in pokémon," her mother suddenly confessed. "She might…she might want to go on her own pokémon journey when it's time."

"Would that be so bad?" Sammy asked in confusion. "Unless…Delia, you wouldn't feel it would be like she would be leaving you just like Faron did, do you?"

"Don't mention him to me," her mother said sharply. "And no… not completely. It's just….she's all that I have, Professor…Samuel. She'll go off so young –she's pretty and she can be so naïve. She'll be taken advantage of, and who knows what else can happen to her. If she'd been born a boy, like the doctors had told me she was supposed to be, I sometimes wonder if I would feel this anxious. I know I'd still fuss over him, but…Dear Arceus, there's just this buildup of anxiety and stress and  _terror_  inside of me at the thought of her going out and traveling by herself, and I have nightmares of all the things that could happen to her."

Sammy was trying to be reassuring. "Don't be afraid, Delia. There have been plenty of girls who have gone on their own pokémon journey. Ash would be fine." But even he didn't sound so sure.

For a moment, Ash didn't hear anything else. And then her mother quietly spoke.

"Just for camp. That's it. I'll…sign the form."

As they finished up, Ash quietly stayed where she was, sliding to sit on the floor and resting her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her bent legs in comfort.

She was happy she got to go to the summer camp, but now…now she wasn't so sure how she felt about pokémon journeys and going on one. A part of her felt sad she was probably not going to be allowed on one, and another felt the creeping fear of going on one, after hearing their words.

Sometimes, she really, really hated that she paid so much attention, and wished she could just be cocky, confident, and brash in ignorance like Gary.

* * *

The summer camp had been great so far. Ash was having a lot of fun! The best part was that she got to play with a lot more kids her age, even boys who didn't care she was a girl and girls who liked the same things as her. To them, the most important of anything was pokémon –exactly what Ash had always thought!

Maybe they weren't lifelong friends, but she was happy to be included and liked all the same. And they were friends for now at least.

"Ash, are you busy?" Sammy came looking for her.

She shook her head wildly, all giddy and feeling childish. "Nuh uh."

He smiled at her and knelt to where she sitting on the ground. "There's a Poliwag I brought in earlier, except it's been moving about. I think it's lost in this forest. I know you really know the forest around here clearly, so would you mind looking for it for me? If you can't find it, come back. It shouldn't have gone too far, so I don't want you going too deep into the forest either."

Ash scrambled and gave him a toothy grin, straightening up the slightly big on her miniature lab coat Sammy had gotten for her. She gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry! I got this, Sammy."

She was going to set off on an adventure! Ash giggled to herself and headed to the woods. It actually hadn't taken her too long to find the Poliwag. Only it was with a young girl with honey-colored hair and blue eyes that were tearing up, and she was holding onto her knee. Looking closely, Ash could see that it was bleeding a bit.

"Hi! Are you okay?" Ash bounded up to her.

"I'm Serena," the other girl sniffled. "I got lost from Professor Oak's Summer Camp, and I tripped over this Poliwag."

Ash whipped out a handkerchief and knelt by Serena, wrapping it around her injured knee. She tapped Serena's nose playfully.

"That's a good luck charm, Serena! It'll make the pain go away."

"It still hurts though," Serena rubbed her eyes.

Ash surprised her when she all of a sudden grabbed Serena and carried her like a bride, easily lifting her up despite being slightly smaller.

"Don't worry! Don't give up until it's over, okay? But for now I'll be your Knight Without Armor!"

She hadn't realized it then, but for the first time she had made a lifelong friend, and with another girl at that.

* * *

"Professor Oak, we just brought in a wild Pikachu," Ash heard one of Sammy's aides say. "It's really injured, but it doesn't want to let anyone come near it. It shoots off electricity at whoever comes near it. We've tried to get it back into the pokéball we originally put it in to safely and quickly transfer it here, but it's refusing to."

"I see," Sammy replied. "It's in the Corral, right? Leave it be for now. Perhaps if it can see how happy and cared for pokémon are here, it'll feel better about being here and around us. We'll still have to monitor it to make sure its condition doesn't worsen."

Ash curiously left them behind and headed to the Corral, going on a search for the Pikachu. She saw it lying by the area usually inhabited by the grass pokémon, where it lay on soft grass and practically hid in it. It was quick to notice her approaching, but she only slowed down and didn't completely stop. Plopping onto her knees, she started to crawl towards it. It watched her warily. An arm's length away, it shot electricity at her, so she stopped.

She tilted her head and stayed on all fours, staring at it.

"Pika? Pika Pika, Pikachu," Ash blurted out and it stared back at her strangely. "Pika?"

It unwillingly giggled and slowly, slowly came to her, hesitantly butting its head against her bowed one.

"Pika," it replied smartly, and then lightly slapped her head a few times with his tail.

Ash giggled too and reached out to pet Pikachu's head. Gently, she reminded herself. Gently. She couldn't be rough, like how she played rough with the boys, or play rowdy just because she usually was, girl or not.

Gentle…

Later, Sammy found both of them lying in that pasture, curled up around each other. He scooped them up into his arms and carried them back to the main part of the lab.

* * *

A little after all that, Ash turned seven. As a birthday present, Sammy was bringing her along to a medical convention in Celadon City, where after he'd take her around the city and show her everything. While he was at the convention, she was supposed to stay in the hotel room and watch TV, order room service, and whatever else was available to her in the room.

She missed Pikachu. She wished she could have brought him, but her mother had seen them off and she wasn't supposed to know that Ash kinda, sort of,  _maybe_ already had a pokémon. Or was preparing for a pokémon journey. Neither of which her mother would approve of.

But that was just details.

Even though she was supposed to stay in the room, she was bored and restless. If she was quick…maybe she could just, only a little…go outside for a bit and see what the city looked like. She wouldn't stray too far.

Mind made up, she snuck outside and wandered around the area close to the hotel.

"Hey there, love. What are you doing around here, by yourself? Are you lost?" Ash blinked and looked at the man that had been talking to her.

He wore a kind smile, dressed in a forest green tracksuit, and was holding a Vulpix in his arms.

"No, I was just exploring," she told him, eyes wide.

He laughed. "I see. An adventurous girl, huh? You want to come over and pet Vulpix? She's shy, but she likes attention. Little girls like cute things, don't they?"

She made an agreeing noise, coming over curiously and reaching a hand towards the quiet pokémon. Without warning, her wrist was snatched by the man and he was pulling her closer.

"Now, now. Don't make a fuss or else," his voice had turned menacing and he was gripping her wrist tightly. She whimpered. "Cute little girls like you should keep quiet and just stand around looking pretty."

"And I think disgusting men like you should find themselves bereft of their life," another man's voice spoke up and Ash saw a taller man, with broad shoulders and dressed in an expensive vivid orange suit, stand behind the man.

For some reason, the man holding onto her stiffened. He then quickly let go of her and moved away, and Ash only caught a glimpse of something dark and metallic disappearing back into the well-dressed man's suit jacket, before the man took his hand back out and let it rest by his side.

"Be gone," he barked at the man that had scared her, and immediately he was gone. Then he was turning to her. "Should you be out here alone?"

She looked down. "…No. I should be in my room, but I was alone and bored."

For a moment he was quiet, before he sighed. "Come. Let us return to your hotel. I'll escort you back, little one."

She followed behind dutifully, though she did make sure he was going to the right place and that he was leading her there in the first place. There, he brought her to the hotel restaurant, where he ordered her a sundae and she delightfully dug in. She was confused, but pleased that he was staying with her.

"Have you ever heard of not talking with strangers, much less going with one?" he asked her wryly, but also ironically.

She ducked her head timidly.

"Next time, scream when someone grabs you like that," he told her firmly. "No matter what they say. Screaming attracts attention, and you'll likely be saved."

She gave him a small smile.

His name was Giovanni, she found out. He had a Persian that he let out and let Ash pet and hold tightly onto after she ate. He listened to her patiently and actually talked to her. It was the first time she actually felt  _wanted_ , and not a burden.

His hand settled heavily on her head and rubbed it gently. He looked at her seriously and she watched him intensely in return.

"This world is an  _ugly_  place. You shouldn't be so trusting,  _dolcezza_ ," he murmured. He rubbed her head one last time and then stood up.

"Remember that, little blackbird. Remember the true, ugly face of this world."

He began to walk away, his Persian rubbing up against Ash's small legs before following after its master.

Ash bit her lip and stared into the melting mess of her sundae.

Was the world outside of her life in Pallet really so terrible?

Started 8/17/14 – Completed 8/17/14


	2. A Girl's Advent

_The bird is generally thought to be a symbol of freedom. They can walk on the earth and swim in the sea as humans do, but they also have the ability to soar into the sky. Birds are free to roam to earth and the sky. Many cultures believe that they are a symbol of eternal life; the link between heaven and earth._

She knew she shouldn't really, but she wanted to see that man again. The one who had saved her from the kind-man-who-wasn't.

Yesterday, she had gone back to her room to wait for Sammy after Giovanni had left her in the restaurant. She wasn't exactly sure he had left her alone though, because there were people she noticed before that trailed around him, sometimes in the open and sometimes not, and who had been still around and had quietly made sure she had made it to her room.

She thought it was nice of him to make sure she got back okay.

When Sammy had come back from his meeting, she hadn't said anything or revealed she'd gone out. She was still somehow sure that he'd known, because he'd given her a look and she sort of fidgeted in place. But he didn't say anything and they had a quiet dinner, while he told her about what the convention had been about and what he'd learned. She made sure to pay attention, so that she could take better care of her pokémon in the future when she went on her pokémon journey.

After that, Sammy had tucked her into bed and told her favorite bedtime, about the time he met a pokémon trainer named Ash Ketchum (just like her, he teased). And she'd smiled inwardly because she had a Pikachu just like Ash the Boy now, and she hoped that Sammy would like her more than him. Or even better, that she would remind Sammy of the other Ash, and Sammy would feel less lonely and wistful for him.

But now Sammy was back at the medical convention, and she really, really wanted to meet Giovanni again. So she snuck out again, when she knew she shouldn't and even Giovanni had warned her against it. Or  _had_  he? He'd only warned her against the world and strangers…

She guiltily latched onto the loophole and looked around the outside again, careful to try not to draw attention to herself and also hopefully the Man with the Vulpix wasn't around either.

"You know, I thought I said you shouldn't be wandering around by yourself," his familiar voice was quick to warn her, and she looked around and spotted him some ways away. She grinned widely and ran towards him, surprising him when she tossed herself at him and hugged him tightly. She missed the uncomfortable look on his face, before it smoothed out and he unfamiliarly repeated her actions, albeit with more care and less roughness (though his arms did feel rigid).

"Nuh uh. You told me to not go with strangers and to not be so trusting. You never said I couldn't go out. And I wanted to see you again!"

Then, in the middle of that public place where no one was paying attention to them, Giovanni gently pushed her away and knelt on one knee, so that he could look her better in the eye.

" _Dolcezza_ , understand – _I'm_  not a kind man either. I'm not a good person. I am one of those I warned you against."

Ash frowned, but nodded. Except –

"But you're a good man to me," she blinked and he sighed.

He stood back up and ruffled her hair. "Come. You can stay with me while Oak is still in that convention, little blackbird."

"Eh? You know Sammy?!"

He chuckled slightly. "Who doesn't know the famous Professor Oak? You should be asking how did I know you were with him?" he hinted.

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "You must know everything."

"…That's one way of putting it."

Halfway to his room, which she was delighted to know was in the same hotel as her, he let out his Persian and Ash had fun playfully running around with it as they continued their walk. She barely even noticed that they'd gone into an elevator and gone high up, to which they headed to a lone door on a top floor. When she finally noticed anything, they were entering the room (or suite, more like) and she was gaping at the large expanse of the area, and the view she was surrounded with, wall windows all around and affording her a look of the city.

"I have some work to finish, so why don't you play with Persian over there?" he told her softly and she nodded, following after Persian, who had tugged at her skirt.

He watched her for a second, before he headed to his desk there and pulled out a laptop. For a moment, all was quiet.

"Um…sorry to bother you, but what's this?"

He looked up and saw that she was looking at the Mew plaque his mother had found and obsessed over for years. The plexi-glass case protected it, so he wasn't worried she would break it.

"That is Mew," he informed her. "It is a Legendary Pokémon, said to have been the first of all pokémon. My mother found that plaque long ago."

She and Persian traveled over to him and he swiveled his chair to face them, as they sat by his feet. Persian laid his head on one of his legs, and he automatically began to pet him as he began speaking about the pokémon, his quest to find it and/or revive it (following after his mother's ambition), and continued on until he noticed the girl had sleepily put her head on his other leg. He spoke more quietly, pausing his petting of Persian, to use his other hand to calmly stroke her head.

As she finally fell asleep, Persian wiggled out from under his hand and tucked himself into the girl, who automatically put an arm around the feline. Seeing no work could really be done in his position unless he were to move them, he just reached for his phone and began to send out some orders, his first being that someone was to leave a message at the front desk for Professor Oak to let him know where his charge was.

Afterwards, it was all a matter of delegating.

* * *

When Ash opened her eyes, she could still feel a warm hand softly stroking her head and she sighed happily. Lifting her head, she noticed she was curled up on Giovanni's lap and her head had been resting on his left arm, as his other was preoccupied with petting her head. Persian was contentedly sitting by his feet, licking at his paws.

"Finally awake then?"

She blushed and nodded shyly.

"Good. I have something for you," he said mysteriously. He reached over her head and grabbed something from his desk, handing it to her. She grinned widely as she noticed it was a Mew plush doll, though it was strangely a little heavier than a regular plush.

She hugged it happily and rubbed her cheek against it. "Thank you…"

"Maybe it'll remind you of me," he said in amusement.

She turned to him. "I won't ever forget you," she said seriously.

And then she jumped off his lap and over Persian, who got up and followed after her, and the two began to play a make-believe journey, with the Mew plush doll acting as an aspiration for the "pokémon trainer" to chase after through all the regions.

It made Giovanni laugh to himself.

Then Ash began to hum quietly, before outright singing and causing Giovanni to listen intently to her pretty voice.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; remember me to the one who lives there, for once she was a true love of mine. Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, sober and grave grows merry in time; sewn without seams or fine needlework, if she would be a true love of mine. Tell her to wash it in yonder well, every rose grows merry with time; where never spring water or rain ever fell, and she shall be a true love of mine. Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn, there's never a rose grows fairer with time; which never bore blossom since Adam was born. Then she shall be a true love of mine.

"Now he has asked me questions three –"

A loud knock sounded, interrupting Ash's singing of the old folk ballad, that Giovanni had closed his eyes to and had been listening peacefully. He reluctantly got up, aware both Ash and Persian were watching him, and went to the door. He opened it to find Oak on the other side, looking worried.

"I got your message, Giovanni. Is she –"

"Sammy!" Ash quickly came over and hugged him.

"Well, that answers my question," Oak said wryly. He turned his attention back to Giovanni. "Thank you for taking her in and making sure she was looked after. Ash, come on. The convention is over, so why don't we go around the city now?"

"Okay," she agreed, before ducking down and sitting on her haunches, so she could embrace Persian tightly. "Bye, Persian. I'll miss you."

Then she stood up and hugged Giovanni as well, once again putting an uncomfortable and awkward look on his face. Though, this time Oak was there to catch it, smiling inwardly at the thought of the acidic gym leader being softened up by a little girl. He knew better than to smile about it outwardly though. Arceus knew what Giovanni would do to him.

"Alright, let's go now, Ash," he hustled her. She let go of Giovanni and went to his side, grabbing hold of his hand. They began leaving, though Ash turned slightly, seeing Giovanni still watching them as he stood in the hallway. She couldn't help a small grin as she turned her body halfway and waved excitedly.

"Giovanni! When I'm older, I'm gonna marry you!"

He barked out a laugh. "I'm 23, kid. You've got 16 years to catch up to me."

But she gave him a happy smile, while inwardly promising herself that she was going to grow older and marry Giovanni when she saw him again.

Oak looked at her bewilderedly, while feeling uneasy inside.

* * *

When they got back to Pallet, they had gone to Sammy's lab first, where he'd gotten some surprise news. Ash didn't know what it was, but Sammy had let her go to the Corral, where she immediately looked for Pikachu, while he went to the main lab with some of his aides.

"Pikachu! I missed you," she said as she caught the mouse pokémon, who had run towards her and jumped into her arms. "I want you to meet a new friend."

She took out the Mew plush doll and showed it to Pikachu, who sniffed at it. He did understand that his owner and friend didn't really have friends, so sought friends in whatever and whoever she could; therefore he knew that even a stuff doll was precious to her.

"This is Mew. Mew, this is my friend Pikachu."

Pikachu played along, greeting the plush happily. "Pika!"

Ash smiled sadly. "Let's all be friends, okay?"

She missed Giovanni already.

"It's all your fault, Ash!" she heard Gary yell from behind her, and she turned to see Gary stomping over to her. Pikachu made himself scarce, so he wouldn't be seen by the other. Ash wasn't supposed to already have a pokémon after all.

"What are you talking about?" Ash groused, upset with the other for making Pikachu have to hide, and ruining her playtime. He never plays with her, so he could at least let her play by herself (and with Pikachu and Mew).

"Didn't you hear?" Gary asked sourly. "Your mom went to the League Board. She got them to up the age for kids to get their Trainers License. You gotta be 18 now!"

Ash's mouth formed a small 'o.' She hadn't known that at all, or that her mom had been thinking about such a thing.

"See? It's your fault!"

"Gary! Are you blaming Ash for that silly license change?" Sammy was striding closer, scowling. "It is  _not_  her fault, and I happen to agree with the change! Children out in the world on their own, when they're 10…it  _is_  senseless. None of you are old enough for anything, much less to travel and be by yourselves. 10 isn't an age where any of you are legal for anything, not even for jobs! I believe this is a good change to the rule. Especially with those people…"

He trailed off and didn't finish, shaking his head and looking uncomfortable at his thoughts.

"Never you two mind. Gary, I was just coming here to tell you one of your friends is at the front, asking if you wanted to go play," and with that Gary forgot about Ash and began to excitedly run to his home, busy thinking about playing with his friends now.

Sammy turned to her and smiled fondly. "Go on then, Ash. You can stay back here and play with Pikachu. You can sleep over as well, since your mother won't be back from the Indigo Plateau until tomorrow at the least."

Ash smiled brightly up at him, and he left as Pikachu ran out of hiding and jumped onto Ash, climbing up until he was perched on her shoulder and rubbing cheeks with her.

"Haha, cut that out, Pikachu! That tickles!"

Pikachu did, though he noticed something about the Mew plush in Ash's arms. He bent down a little, sniffing at it again, before catching whatever it was with his teeth.

"Huh? Pikachu, stop that! You'll hurt Mew," Ash tried to get Pikachu to stop, only for him to finish his task, unzipping the zipper he'd found.

A pokéball fell out of the plush doll, and they stared at it as it dropped to the ground and rolled.

"Is that…" Ash murmured. She looked at the Mew doll and reached into it, finding a folded up note inside. Taking it out, she read it and was glad that she could read so well.

_Ash,  
_ _When I started my pokémon journey long ago, I had a Charmander for a starter._

_He will protect you well._

_Giovanni_

Ash swallowed nervously, walking towards the pokéball with Pikachu slowly. Picking it up, she tossed it and let out the magnificent-looking pokémon, who came out and surprisingly was quiet, which Ash was glad for since it wouldn't draw the others to them.

The large Charizard breathed deeply and bent down, lowering his head. She reached up and petted his head in awe.

"You're really strong, I bet," she murmured, and he huffed, a snort of fire escaping his nostrils as he smirked at her.

He butted his head against her hand and she laughed, beginning to pet him again.

"Together, we'll be great," she swore.

* * *

" _There are other threats out there than the Teams! We are so focused on them, that we are missing the dangers to our children, who are out in the world on their poke_ _́_ _mon journeys. Rocket, Galactic, Aqua, Magma, whatever –we are so focused on them that we are neglecting what I feel are the real dangers in this world; the ones who are hiding in the shadows and taking advantage of the spotlight being shone on the Teams, dealing with activities that are heinous and outside of humane thought._

" _While we're out focusing on the Teams, we have people like those rumored traffickers abducting our children off the streets, when they should be enjoying their journeys and learning about poke_ _́_ _mon and making friends. The focus needs to be shifted and the main threats need to be dealt with first –"_

Her mother shut off the TV, frowning as she did so. Ash stayed quiet, holding tightly to Pikachu, who Sammy had given to her as a "pet," allowing her to have Pikachu early and with less of a hassle from everyone (especially her mother, who was suspicious and still disapproving, and Gary who didn't think she would be much of a battler because she was a girl and Pikachu was just a "little, cutesy pet" –she couldn't wait to prove him wrong).

"You shouldn't be watching such things," Delia said sternly. "It's too disturbing for you."

"Yes, Mom," Ash inwardly sighed. Her mother went to go to the kitchen, but Ash stopped her hesitantly. "Um, Mom…are you still going to let me go on a pokémon journey when I'm 18?"

Delia gave her a strained smile. "…Yes, of course."

And then she was off to make lunch for them.

Ash sighed aloud this time. Her mother promised her, just after she met her Charizard (who she named "Maximus," which meant 'greatest' in Ancient Roman, to hearken back to Giovanni's Italian roots), that she could go on a pokémon journey when she turned 18.

She was 14 now and was counting down the days.

In fact, she'd just finished making a calendar to help her keep track of the days passing by. She was about to go up to her room and post it up, when her doorbell rang and she curiously went to answer it, with Pikachu jumping out of her arms and racing her to it. When she opened the door, she saw it was Gary outside. Oddly, he'd taken to visiting her more lately, and his face always looked rather red.

"Gary? What is it?"

He grinned awkwardly at her. "Nothing, really. Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out?"

She blinked at him and gave a hesitant smile back. "Er, sure…"

It was really weird, but she didn't really mind the company either.

They watched a bit of TV, talking about idle subjects, when someone familiar came onto the screen and Ash's face lit up.

"Oh! It's Giovanni," she remembered the man she met when she was younger.

"He's really strong," Gary nodded. "If he wasn't so busy with his business, he would be part of the Elite Four or even Champion, instead of just a gym leader."

She beamed happily at him. "When I grow a little bit older, I'm going to marry him."

Gary laughed. "Yeah, sure, right."

Ash scowled. "I will too! You'll see."

"Okay," he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say."

Inwardly, he changed his opinion about the guy, mumbling to himself that he wasn't so great.

* * *

After Gary had left, Ash and Pikachu were cleaning up the living room and were about to pass by the kitchen, when she heard her mother on the phone. She hesitated before deciding it wouldn't hurt to listen in.

"…I know, I know. I told her. I don't know. I'm not sure. I just…I've just been telling her she could go on one when she turns 18, but I don't really think it's a good idea. I'm just telling her okay for now, but I'm trying to work her into not wanting to go on one. Maybe over the next few years, she'll forget about it and just focus on her schooling."

Ash backed away quietly, blinking away tears. Pikachu followed her as she slipped out of her house, and then she picked him up and started to run. She ran as fast as she could, not paying attention to anything. She made it to the forest outside of Pallet, where she fumbled for her belt and took off the lone pokéball and threw it. Her Charizard got out and looked to her for orders.

"Maximus, fly us away from here."

She clambered onto Maximus' back, letting Pikachu settle himself in front of her, and leaned forward and held tightly onto Maximus. And then Maximus flapped his wings and then took off.

Ash continued to blink back tears and refused to look back.

Started 8/31/14 – Completed 8/31/14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See: behindthename.com/names/usage/ancient-roman for the name Maximus, and behindthename.com/glossary/view/roman_names
> 
> It's kept to Ancient Roman, rather than Latin (Latin is the official language of Rome). Roman names were of Latin, Greek, or Estrucan origin.


	3. An Unlikely Alliance

Delia was hysterical. Oak would be too, but he needed to be calm and focused, otherwise he'd be useless and unable to do anything or think clearly.

Ash was missing.

For whatever reason, the young girl was nowhere to be seen. She was neither in her home nor in Oak's, and Pallet wasn't that big of a town to be able to hide a young, recognizable girl like Ash. And everyone knew her and could recognize her on sight, so he wasn't worried about her running about in town and getting lost. That wasn't even possible –Ash knew Pallet like the back of her hand, all the ins and outs, the shortcuts, and even the surrounding forest.

So where could she have gone?

Uneasily, he remembered the call he'd made to Delia earlier that afternoon. Could Ash have overheard her mother talking on the phone?

"Delia, do you remember Ash being in the house when we had that…talk earlier, on the phone?" he asked her quietly, the worried mother calming slightly to think and then try to answer him.

"I-I'm not sure," Delia hesitated. "Gary was around then and they were watching TV…but I think he left soon after, and it was quiet. I didn't think she was in the house, that maybe she'd gone with him somewhere."

Oak frowned. "No, I asked Gary before I came here. He told me that he left Ash, and she was still in the house when he'd gone and she'd been working on a calendar or something. She…she might have overheard you and did something rash."

Delia buried her face into her hands. "If she overheard me, then she must've been upset that I've been lying and trying to keep her from going on a pokémon journey. She must've run off."

"I'm sure we can get the Viridian police to look into this," Oak reassured her. "Ash is a well-known kid and this place is small –if she's not seen around here for a long while, then she's not here. We won't have to worry about waiting for a full 24 hours before reporting her missing. Especially with those traffickers about…"

Delia sobbed. "That's exactly what I'm worried about! She's out there, all alone…You've heard the news! Kids, people, all sorts of them are being abducted right off the streets and who knows what's happening right now! I don't want Ash to be one of those girls that gets found in a body bag!"

Oak slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. "Don't you think I know that? That I don't feel the same way? Damn it, I practically treat and see Ash as one of my own! I've spent these past years helping her and trying to make sure she's not lonely and sad all the time! I'm just as worried and upset as you are!"

And bitterly, he wanted to scream blame at her for driving Ash away, for pushing Ash to this point. He knew how hard it was for Ash to connect to people, to find something she really wanted to do and felt she was good at. Pokémon and going on a pokémon journey were what she felt comfortable and at home with.

Yes, Oak knew the dangers waiting out there in the world, exacerbated by the appearance and terrorizing of this group of people (if they could be called that) who took others of all ages, and initiated such unspeakable things. Not even the criminal Teams were as heartless or disturbing. Maybe just as or even more dangerous, but at least the Teams were much more…ethically responsive, and had  _some_  sort of moral compass.

They could be ruthless and needlessly cruel, but at least they weren't there to torture for fun or sell off children to the highest bidder.

Yet, despite all that, he couldn't smother down Ash's hopes and dreams, or completely shut away her feelings and wants. He couldn't discourage her from the only things she'd ever connected to, even if his mind frequently came up with horrible scenarios that could happen if she were to go out in the world, more so now that she was gone from the town and most likely out on her own.

Then again, one couldn't keep their children locked away forever. One day they'd have to leave their nests and fly away on their own, and experience the world for themselves.

Oak just couldn't help but feel it was a little too early for Ash.

He massaged the temples of his head, trying to think of a way to get this resolved and have Ash back home and safe. An idea flittered into his head and he hesitantly thought about it. Could he…It was dangerous though. And he cut that connection off because he thought it was too dangerous.

But…

Oak sighed and knew he had to make a decision quickly. It was important that he did too –Ash's life could be in danger and he would be wasting precious time.

"Delia," he muttered. "I think I might have a solution. I just…I just need to make sure first. Call the police, won't you? Let them know what's going on."

He needed to get over his reservations.

* * *

Nighttime had descended pretty quickly. Time seemed to have passed by, and for the man expertly rubbing his hands up and down the eager body against him, he had no notice of it. Time was not a thought in his head at the moment.

He had all the time in the world after all.

He pushed her through the entrance to the loft apartment, plastering his mouth against the curve of her neck. He lapped at the skin, his tongue creating circles around the area as one of his hands traveled to the back of her dress and he quickly found a zipper. However, already his interest began to wane and he started to become bored. Interest drifting, a childish and smiling face briefly appeared in his head, as well as a soft echo of a folk ballad.

He rolled his eyes and inwardly smirked at himself in irony.

Interest completely gone, he pulled back as he discreetly grabbed something from his pocket, peeking up at her to see her eyes were closed. Perfect. He slipped the pill he'd grabbed into his mouth and bit down slightly, right before he kissed her harshly. The effects of the experimental drug rendered her unconscious and she practically collapsed in his arms. He carelessly deposited her on his couch, and then let his mind wander as he took off his jacket.

Calling one of his agents, he irritably waited for someone to answer.

"Giovanni sir?"

He used one hand to unbutton his dress shirt, holding onto the phone with the other. "There's a woman in my apartment I want gone. Retrieve her and drop her off to her home."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up and placed his phone on his desk, fully taking off his shirt and flinging it off to lie somewhere on the floor. Going to sit at his desk, he turned on his laptop.

" _Now he has asked me questions three…"_

Of all the times…It's actually been quite a few years since Giovanni recalled that little girl. He'd actually kept tabs on her for a bit, calling on Oak and checking up on her for close to a year and a half, until the professor told him it was best he stayed away and forgot about her, as it would help her get over this phase of 'claiming marriage' to him. He'd found the whole thing rather amusing and flattering, and jokingly told the professor he wouldn't mind her outrageous declarations. Still, he'd honored Oak's request and had all but forgotten that little girl, minus the brief moments where she seemed to randomly pop up.

Still, for her to be thought of now…Honestly, he hadn't been interested in a woman or been with one for a few years now, and now suddenly Ash Ketchum invaded his thoughts like a plague right at such a moment. It made him question his mental state, though he refused to even think that he'd not been with someone or that he'd stop then, all because of that little girl for some reason.

It was a little too ironic, even for him.

Unwillingly, he started to hum the folk ballad she'd sung that one day, so long ago. If he remembered right, he'd looked it up sometime after she'd left, recalling how most sources agree its basis probably came from  _The Elfin Knight_ , and how the song was supposed to be about two lovers (former or not, whatever) giving each other impossible tasks to complete if they wanted to be the other's "true love." He laughed quietly to himself under his breath.

Perhaps he should come up with and give that girl impossible tasks to finish, if she still wanted to marry him.

His phone rang and he scowled, grabbing it and answering irritably. "What is it?"

He was surprised to find it wasn't one of his agents, but Professor Samuel Oak himself. Curious about what the man wanted, especially considering the last time they left off it was on strained terms, Giovanni purposefully softened his tone and asked more politely about what the other wanted.

Oak took a deep breath on the other side.

"I need your help, Giovanni."

* * *

Ash didn't know how long or how fast Maximus had flown them, but she did know that it was nighttime now and Maximus had taken off at an impressive speed, and had maintained that speed for the entire journey. She knew Viridian was too close to Pallet, so she hadn't gone there, but she didn't know where they'd gone after aimlessly flying straight and having no direction. Plus, Maximus was tiring by then and she didn't want to wear him out or push him passed his limits.

Seeing bright lights in the distance, she tried to talk to Maximus over the screaming wind in their ear.

"I think I see a city! Let's head there and try to find some shelter!"

She couldn't see how 10 year olds would want to go on a journey when she was 14 and felt absolutely terrified. She'd rushed into this without any thought or preparation. She had no money on her, or food, clothes, or anything else that could help her. If she couldn't fend for herself at 14, how could she at 10?

Maximus began slowing down and Ash didn't have a hard time seeing the large sign proclaiming what city they were in. She gaped at it and Pikachu nudged her.

"Oh wow…"

They'd made it all the way to  _Saffron_.

"Maximus, you're amazing!" He'd covered such a large distance, and in a short amount of time.

The Charizard puffed up and visibly smirked, straightening up in a proud stance. She giggled at him, while Pikachu hid a snort.

"But you must be really tired, right? You went this far and so fast! You deserve a nice, long rest, Maximus," she tenderly caressed his head with her hands, before she took his pokéball and summoned him back.

She looked at Pikachu. "Let's go in?"

"Pika!"

Hesitantly walking through the city's entrance, she walked around a bit until she came near a building where a man was enticing people to come in and watch a show. It looked a little like a circus show, and Ash was eager to come in and watch.

"Hey, pretty love!" the man winked at her. "What about you? Do you want to come in and watch pokémon and humans perform live?"

She grinned and nodded enthusiastically, but her smile fell off when she realized something.

"I don't have any money," she sighed.

He waved her off, grinning back at her. "It's a free show on Fridays! We like to let the crowd come in and see it, so they'll spread it through word of mouth and even come again themselves."

With that, Ash was let in and she and Pikachu excitedly looked around for a seat, sitting down and then waiting for the show to begin.

* * *

Once morning had come, Giovanni made his way to Pallet Town, reaching it in little to no time. The small, quaint town was quiet and just waking up in the early morning, not many early risers up and about. Perhaps, after all this was over, he could drop by and give a surprise visit to that little girl. See if Ash remembered him, how she was doing…And it'll be interesting to see how she'd grown up in the years past…

He clicked the intercom button to his side. "You have Oak's address, don't you?"

The divider rolled down to reveal his second in command, with Archer calmly glancing at his mirror to see him.

"Of course, Giovanni. We'll be there in three more minutes, in fact."

Giovanni muttered something, before he just leaned back. "Alright. Make it quick then. I want to know what's so urgent that he wants me there quickly, and so important that he is actually contacting  _me_  for help."

"Right away, sir."

He rolled up the divider again, and tried to relax in the peace he had left before he was to confront Oak. Unfortunately, that time went by quickly and soon enough he was in front of Oak's door, with the man himself opening it.

"Giovanni, thank you for coming," the professor looked oddly haggard.

"I just want to know what is so important you had me rushing over and that you couldn't just inform me over the phone. And especially since last time we were in contact, you made it quite clear you preferred that I keep to myself and mind my own business," he stated dryly.

Oak let him in and tiredly ran a hand through his graying hair. "I need your help."

"Yes, you told me that before. Just  _what_  do you need my help with?" he raised an eyebrow, starting to get a little bit annoyed.

"Ash has gone missing."

Giovanni unwittingly froze, before turning on his heel slowly and staring down the professor.

"What do you mean she is missing?"

Oak explained the situation as much as he could, and Giovanni's hands clenched. Honestly, his own reaction seemed rather irrational, but he couldn't help feeling extremely furious at the situation and at the professor.

"Do we have any clue as to where she could have gone?" he growled, his jaw clenching in anger.

"We're pretty sure it was spontaneous and that she just left without any preparation or having really thought about it. She's taken nothing with her, but the Pikachu I gave her."

Giovanni grunted slightly, thinking. Well, at least she'd taken her Pikachu. His eye glinted and he turned to Oak impatiently.

"What about her Charizard? Did she take her Charizard as well?" he asked keenly.

Oak blinked, staring at him in shock. "C-Charizard? She doesn't have a Charizard."

Giovanni smirked slightly. So she kept it a secret, did she?

"Yes, she does," he corrected the older man. "I gave him to her a long time ago, when I handed her that Mew stuffed doll. He was hidden inside. So unless she never found the pokéball inside of it, then she's kept her Charizard a secret and more than probably has him with her at this time. Which means that she didn't just walk away and might've even flown a distance."

He frowned at that. That made looking for her harder, if she flew on his old Charizard, instead of walking from Pallet and to the next city as had been presumed. Plus, Viridian was  _his_  home ground, and it would have been much easier to find Ash there with his agents crawling all over the place.

"But you're the boss of Team Rocket," Oak blurted out and Giovanni looked at him sharply, hiding how caught off guard he was. "I don't have any concrete proof, but I've always had my suspicions. I…it was why I wasn't too keen on you being around and too interested in Ash before. I didn't think it would've been a good idea to have her so partial to a crime boss."

Giovanni shifted slightly, but inclined his head in agreement. He could see Oak's reckoning and agree with it a bit, though he had to claim bias and prefer the opposite claim after all.

"I was hoping that with you being the Rocket Boss, that you could use your connections to find her and have your people on the lookout," Oak finally explained his full reasoning in going to Giovanni for help. "You have the resources and influence I don't have, that could help find her quicker."

The crime lord frowned, tapping his fingers on his thigh. "Of course I would have done so without you asking about it, or even had you not known about who I was," Giovanni implicitly confirmed his identity. "I'm just not in the same business as those people. I need to think how to find and contact them."

Oak hesitated, before he decided to hell with it. Ash was more important.

"I could…I could get you all the information the League has been compiling about them," Oak offered. "We've been trying to discreetly find a solution and catch these people, for the sake of the kids and everyone, especially traveling about on pokémon journeys unaware."

"That would help," Giovanni agreed. "I tend to try to get information on anything and everything, just to be prepared. However, whoever they are, this organization works very well in the shadows and they don't leave signs behind. If they have a paper trail, it's probably hardcopy, which is harder to track nowadays since everyone favors electronic paperwork. No witnesses are left behind; anyone left are bodies that your people lock up and examine, keeping whatever they learn from the autopsies to themselves.

"Because me and mine usually ignore them and designated them as non-priority, no matter how much I dislike them and their methods, we're all kept out of each other's way and I had no need to push to find information on them. So any actual attempts are usually foiled by your people finding it first, and then keeping it locked up," Giovanni reasoned his, for once, lack of information about the group.

"Please, Giovanni. They made it  _personal_ ," Oak pleaded.

Giovanni pressed his lips into a very thin line. "Yes, yes they did. And I already told you –I have this. Just get me that information."

It had been a very brief meeting in actuality, all that time ago. But if she was allowed to claim him (as silly as it had been), then in whatever strange, fated role assigned to her, he should be allowed to claim her back, right?

And he protected and was possessive of what was rightfully his.

* * *

Giovanni sniffed lightly, the smell of Lysol and a hint of some sort of cookies lingering in the air. Slowly, he walked up the stairs, fingers lightly trailing on the railing. He found Ash's room quickly, the door opened and clearly a room decorated visibly with pokémon paraphernalia. Although, once he actually stepped into it, he was surprised by how sparsely decorated and rather bare it actually was, for an adolescent teenager.

There was nothing to truly mark the room as anything belonging to someone of Ash's age. Her bed sheet covers and pillow cases were a plain crimson red (he thoroughly approved of the color), and the few decorations around the room were pictures. Mostly photographs of Ash with the pokémon probably from Oak's Corral, quite a few of her and what he supposed was her Pikachu, and some with Ash and the professor. There were a few with her mother, and even more rarely with a boy her age with reddish brown hair. One picture stood out because it was the only one with the two, with Ash standing next to another young girl, who wore stylish clothes and had honey-brown hair and blue eyes, and a Poliwag in Ash's arms.

But then his sharp eyes caught sight of something that was next to an official League pokéball clock on the dresser next to the bed. The Mew plush doll he'd given her was sitting up and resting against the clock, and he gravitated towards it.

He reached out and grabbed it, lifting it up to examine it in sort of…fascination. He hadn't really expected her to keep it, and especially not this long and at her age. And it looked  _very_  well taken cared of, for the time it's been owned.

Obviously, it looked worn. But that was expected because of its age and the fact it seemed like she regularly kept contact and held it around. But it was clean and kept together, and not falling apart. The color of it didn't seem all that faded, and there seemed to still be an appropriate amount of stuffing that had the plush puffed up and looking lively.

His thumb brushed against the plush's snout, before he turned it over and found the zipper. Pulling it down, he nodded in satisfaction to find the pokéball he'd put in there gone. So she more than likely had Charizard with her.

After zipping it back up, he pocketed the Mew doll, intending to personally return it to her once he found her again. Then he turned on his heel and began to walk out, stopping only when he saw something else. Above her desk, there was a personally-made calendar hung up. It was full of sketches and he made a mental note to scour around at a later date, and see if she had a book full of her sketches. They were quite good and he'd like to hold onto it.

Taking the pushpins out, he took the calendar and examined it more closely, seeing the care that went into it, as well as how it obviously was meant to be a countdown to when she would be going on her pokémon journey. Journeys traditionally started on April 1, and her birthday actually landed around that time. In fact, if he remembered correctly, her birthday was around the time he'd met her.

He went back to focusing on it, and looked closer at the tiny notes she'd made on certain dates. He looked at the note on the space that landed on her 18th birthday, and couldn't refrain from the burst of laughter that escaped him.

Dear Arceus, this girl…

_One step closer on becoming a Pokémon_ _Master and going to marry Giovanni!_

Well, that answered his question about whether or not she was still going on about marrying him. Perhaps he should just give in and concede to her. It wasn't like he was really interested in finding a wife otherwise, or even cared to.

Carefully tucking her calendar into the inside of his jacket, he chuckled and continued on his way. He had a girl to find after all.

* * *

Ash screamed along with the others, clapping in cheer for the good show. Pikachu echoed her, having equally enjoyed the show himself. After awhile, the show ended but they were calling out seats for a special behind the scenes tour. When Ash's seat was called, she excitedly jumped up and jogged to join the group of people that had been chosen.

"So everyone's all here?" one of the performers, a pretty lady that had been one of the jugglers, grinned at the group. "Follow me then!"

Ash ohhed and ahhed with everyone else as they were taken to the back and shown around. They even got to go up to some of the pokémon that had performed, interacting and petting some of them.

All of a sudden, Ash was grabbed from behind and the sharp edge of a knife was at her neck. There were screams from around her, and she caught sight of the group of people she'd been with being surrounded as well.

The knife against her neck pressed harder and she felt the cut forming and a stinging pain, then the trickle of blood slithering down her neck.

"Hey, little bird. If you didn't want to be caught, you shouldn't have gone for the bait," a familiar voice snickered into her ear.

She closed her eyes tightly and hoped Pikachu had gotten away.

Started 9/18/14 – Completed 9/20/14


	4. Red Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains graphic violence, horrific descriptions detailing human trafficking, and a semi-brief non-con scene. May be triggery. Read at your own discretion or PM if you want to skip the chapter and ask for a summary of events.

Ash almost whimpered, but the tiniest movement of her throat made the knife dig in just a little bit deeper. She did her best to refrain from any sudden movements, or to struggle so much when she was in the thick of danger.

She thought since it was public and out in the open, as well as an official and rather well-known show, that she would be okay. That she'd be safe…She was with people! There were a lot of them together. She thought what would happen a long time ago wouldn't happen again, not when she was surrounded by so many people and was in a group, and with it being such a public event.

How did it happen like this?

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," the man behind her said loudly to address the group. "We're going to do this nice and quietly. Don't struggle or else we'll have to get a little rough on all of you, and things might get a little messy."

"The hell I'll go quietly!" one of the men in the group she was with yelled angrily, consumed with fear and panic.

One of the circus people rolled their eyes and strolled over to him, stopping behind the guy as he took something from out of his belt and cocked back the hammer of a gun and then point blank shot the man in the head, blood splattering from the exit hole through the man's forehead. The deceased man had a final look of surprise before he fell forward and hit the ground face down.

Ash let out a little scream that mostly got stuck in her throat, while all around her everyone else in the group let out louder screams.

"Good girl," the man holding her whispered into her ear. "One little move, and that pretty little white neck of yours will be stained red. Do you understand?"

She gave a small nod, careful of the knife against her. She blinked back tears, but really she just wanted to cry and curl into a ball on the floor, and pretend this wasn't happening to her right now.

"Okay, everyone down on their hands and knees," the pretty lady from before told all of them coldly, her pretty features twisted into an unemotional look. "Don't struggle," she warned them again.

There was plenty of crying and pleas as they all followed directions, and Ash tried to do the same. However, the man behind her kept a tight hold on her, keeping her standing there.

"Not yet, little bird," he murmured. "I have a little question for you. You're a little young to be a trainer, so why do you have two pokémon with you?" he asked as his hand went near her belt and took Maximus' pokéball away from her.

She whimpered, mind whirring quickly. "T-that was a gift from someone. It was a gift for me to have until I start my pokémon journey in a few years. The-the Pikachu I just met not too long before the show started. I-it left soon after this."

She was vague enough to be truthful for Maximus, while she outright lied about Pikachu. She could only hope, and it seemed like it, that Pikachu had gotten away and was hopefully safer wherever he was. She didn't want to think of what could happen to him, if he'd been caught by these people.

"…A few more questions then," he said, and she nodded slowly as she watched the others being tied up with plastic cuffs and being taken away, loaded up into the trailer of a truck that had just parked nearby. "What's your name?"

She tried not to move too much. She wondered if she should say her real name or make something up. And then she realized she'd taken too long as he pressed the knife harder against her throat in warning.

"Well? It shouldn't take too long for you to give me your name."

She winced. "Giovanna. My name is Giovanna."

It reminded her of Giovanni, who she wished would show up like he did so long ago –saving her from this man and whisking her away. But he wasn't here and he wasn't coming, and she had to realize that quickly and think about what to do herself. There was no one else there that was going to help her but herself.

"Giovanna, huh…You don't look like an Outsider, even though you have an Italian name. You live in the Regions?"

Ash was quicker to reply. "Yes. I live i-in Celadon," she lied, remembering the place as the one other city she'd been to.

"Giovanna what?" he asked then, surprising her. She had to come up with something quick, though she knew she couldn't use Giovanni's surname or anything close to it. She remembered one of his business rivals, who she remembered because the interview she'd been watching with Gary the day she left, had been announcing a partnership with a man named Cyrus Akagi. So she blurted it out.

"Giovanna Akagi, huh. Any relation to Cyrus Akagi?" he pressed her for answers that she was having trouble coming up with.

"N-no. I don't know him at all. Please, what's happening? What are you going to do with me?" Ash couldn't help bursting out with the questions.

"How old are you?" he asked instead, and she had a feeling he was vetting her for something.

"I'm 14," she replied quietly, starting to become subdued. Her panic was receding in the face of numb terror. "I want to go home," she couldn't help pleading.

But he pushed her towards the opened trailer, where she could see many of the people in the group she'd been with, all passed out or dazed. She wondered what was wrong with them, when the man with her took out a rag from his pocket and held it against her face. She breathed in the chemical that was doused in the cloth, and it wasn't long until she passed out as well.

* * *

She felt like she was burning. Everywhere was hot and she couldn't think straight. She couldn't even open her eyes and see what was going on. She knew they were closed because all she saw was darkness, and her hearing was muffled, like she was underwater and everyone's voices became muted.

When she awoke, she was in a moving car and was face down. She was no longer in the trailer, but a separate vehicle where she was lying in the back of the car and the driver was the man from before. She was bound now too, just like the others. Both her wrists and ankles were ensnared by the plastic contraptions, tightened to the point of being too tight, but not enough to cut off her circulation. Being unnoticed, she took the time to watch the man closely.

He was clearly handsome. He had sharp features that went well with his green eyes and dirty blond hair, and his slim frame seemed deceptively weak. But she knew that he was probably more than capable of subduing her, or anyone else, even those thrice his size. Besides, appearances can be deceiving and she could see enough toned muscles on him that said that he wasn't to be trifled with and wasn't as weak as he could seem otherwise.

"Awake finally?" he spoke up, barely glancing at her with his cold green eyes.

"What happened?" she dared ask, though she noted her tongue had trouble moving and her voice was slurred.

"You had a bad reaction to the chloroform/alcohol mixture. I was afraid that you might have gone into cardiac arrhythmia," he told her frankly, and she didn't believe he really cared. Any ounce of concern for her was probably more due to a loss of money.

"You broke out into a high fever," he continued. "You probably still have a bit of one, looking at your flushed state."

"What's your name?" she blurted out, still slurring and a bit dazed.

He was silent, causing her to fear that she might have crossed the line with her unintentional question. But after he started tapping his fingers on the wheel of the car for a few seconds, he actually answered her.

"Tobias. My name is Tobias."

"Is that your real name?" she asked, feeling her eyes droop as she began to feel sleepy again.

"Maybe, maybe not. Would you really want to know?"

' _No, no I don't,'_  she thought.

She just had a feeling she wouldn't have a choice.

* * *

Ash woke up again, to find she was in a dingy room with several others, who looked as miserable as she felt. They were all stiff tied up, so there was no chance of moving too much in the area or getting around easily. The difficulty of just standing up with their locked legs would keep them from going far, if they attempted any sort of escape with the way they were.

Suddenly the door to the room opened, and the pretty lady from before entered, watching them all in detached amusement. Her brown eyes landed on Ash and their focus intensified, catching Ash off guard.

"You there," she pointed at Ash. "Get up and come with me."

Ash hurried to get up, using the wall to prop herself up and then trudge over to the woman, watching her step so she didn't fall because of her cuffed ankles.

"You're taking too long," the woman said in boredom, and walked over to Ash, despite her being almost close to reaching her destination. Without warning, she yanked at Ash's shirt collar, pulling at her and causing Ash to stumble in surprise, tumbling towards the door and slamming her left temple against the frame. Ash let out a loud yelp, and was further roughened up as the woman kicked her legs and she buckled, falling head first out the door.

She felt the blood seep from the wound at her temple, dripping down the side of her face. The back of her legs were pulsing with pain, and she wasn't sure if she could move them. The woman looked her over and sighed, reaching for her head. Slender fingers slid through Ash's hair and gripped it tightly, and then her scalp was in pain as the woman pulled and started to drag her across the floor by her hair. She felt like her hair was going to be yanked off, and she couldn't help sobbing and trying to pull her hair away, which just made it worse as the woman held on tighter and yanked her back.

She didn't know how long it was as she was dragged across the floor of the hallway, the rough cement harsh on her back. She just knew it felt like forever until they stopped in front of a door, and she was left lying on the ground on her side as the woman entered into the room. Her back was aching and the back of her legs jolted with pain every few seconds, along with the pounding in her head. Even left alone as she was, she didn't think she could attempt to run off. Her ankles were still tied up as well, and she wouldn't have gotten far before she was found and probably met with a severe punishment for the escape attempt.

But she wanted so badly to get out of there and go back home, be in Sammy's Corral, play with Pikachu and secretly hang around Maximus, and train to one day be an awesome pokémon trainer. Remembering them, she felt herself become upset and beside herself with worry. What had they done with Maximus' pokéball? Had they released him out of it? Were they hurting him or were they keeping him in there? And what about Pikachu? Had her loyal friend managed to run away?

The door opened and Tobias stood there, shaking his head as he saw her.

"Really, Miranda? You couldn't have gotten her here in better shape?"

"She shouldn't have taken so long to get to me."

Tobias quietly snorted, glaring at the woman who passed him by and left the room. 'Miranda' gave one last disinterested look at Ash, and then departed from them both. He took that moment to kneel by her and scoop her into his arms, carrying her into what she realized was an office, once she'd gotten a good look around.

"Miranda is a complete sadist. I would suggest you would take care to try to go beneath her notice," she was advised as she was set down on a couch that was parallel to the desk. "Now stay here while I make some calls and finish my business, before I come back to you."

Ash stayed quiet, watching dully as she tried to take her mind off of the pain she was in. When he made his call, she listened as he talked dispassionately to the other person.

"A new batch has arrived. A good amount of them are women, so we'll have them trained and sent off to the buyers or auction them off. Some of them are better off for labor, which is where the men will be heading off to, except for the younger ones who will go with the women. Break them in, so they won't fight off the customers.

"Some of them are pretty useless, so we'll just harvest their organs. There's also a pregnant woman in the group, so have her sectioned off with the other pregnant women in our hold. Once they've given birth, those women should be broken in as well, while the babies are sold off. There's a few that we can market in a snuff film, and if they're still intact, we could sell off their organs too."

Ash shivered and watched the man terrified. Were they going to take  _her_  organs? Was she going to be alive and aware when they did it? Or was she going to be sold off to someone or someplace, and forced to work all day and night? She was glad she was too young to have babies…Right? 14 year olds can't…can't have babies, right?

She whimpered, which caught Tobias' attention as he hung up.

"Are you crying?" he asked her in detached curiosity.

Ash couldn't help her sniffling, so she tried to distract herself by asking him questions.

"W-what's a snuff film?" She'd never heard of the term, and though in context it sounded bad, alone the name didn't ring any bells or sound really threatening.

Tobias tilted his head and watched her for a minute, causing her to grow uneasy and wonder even more about the term.

"A snuff film is when a person is  _purposely_ _ **murdered**_  on film, for the express reason to make a profit off of the filmed murder."

Ash sucked in a huge breath. She wished she had never asked, and now she wished she could take it back because she was going to have nightmares about it. She should have let herself stay ignorant.

"Am-am I going to be in a snuff film?" she asked, hating the fact she sounded so scared.

But she  _was_  scared. Terrified really. And she was still in so much pain. Everything seemed so hopeless, and she couldn't see how she could get away or find a way out of her situation.

He slowly stood up from his desk and headed towards her, causing her to shrink back into the couch as he towered over her prone form.

"Hm…You said you were 14, yes? No, you won't be in a snuff," his hand trailed up her bare leg, and then firmly planted itself on her thigh, on top of her skirt. "No, you're much too pretty for that. The sex-trade market is in high demand for younger kids these days, and you'd be perfect."

Ash, desperate, threw herself off of the couch and tried to head towards the door, only to land on the floor as her legs once again jolted in pain. Before she could start to at least try to crawl, he patiently picked her up and sat on the couch, holding her to him.

"Now, little bird, you mustn't struggle. This is what happens to difficult merchandise –to break them in, as you must have overheard me order my associate, there are many methods we employ. We starve them. We beat them. We rape them, even to the point of gang rape. We can confine you, abuse you whenever we feel like, force drugs into you –so long as you're intact enough to make us a profit. Do you want to be subject to and broken in like that?"

"No," Ash sobbed, shaking her head in terror.

"Good girl," he stroked her head idly, the other hand making brushes against her chest that had her wanting to tear out of his hold and attempt to run away again. "If you behave, everything will be much more pleasant for you."

"Why are you doing this?" Ash blinked back tears, even though they came anyway. "Why would you take all these people and do these things to them?"

His mouth was too close to her. She could feel his breath against her ear, and his hand escalated from brushing against her chest, to more firmer and longer-lasting touches, though he wasn't quite yet groping.

"This is all relatively low-risk, did you know? But it's high-profit. It's why the human trafficking business is growing so fast. And well, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly," his tongue darted out and licked the outline of her ear and she stiffened up. She held still though, remembering his warning. "Truth is, you can generate a profit of anywhere between $9 billion to $31.6 billion in this trade."

His other hand stopped stroking her hair and went down to clasp hard on her thigh.

"A man, another trafficker, once said, 'You can buy a woman for $10,000 and make your money back in a week if she is pretty and young. Then everything else is profit.'" His hand slipped underneath her skirt and easily moved aside her underwear, a single finger poking at her. Her breath hitched. " _You_  are going to make me a huge profit. And I didn't even have to pay a single penny for you."

His finger wiggled its way into her, and she yelped and tried to move away. But he held her firmly against him, and let his finger make its way in and out of her, again and again. She sobbed unrestrainedly, not liking the intrusion, when he removed his finger. She felt relieved for a second, only to feel dread again at his next words.

"I'm going to personally train you,  _Giovanna_ ," he revealed, emphasizing her 'name' like he didn't believe her.

And then his hand was back against her entrance, his fore and middle fingers forcing their way into her while his thumb rubbed circles against her clit. She could feel his two fingers curling inside of her and then unfurling, while his thumb pressed and rubbed her and she began to feel strange. She almost…almost felt good, which made her begin to hate herself for the reaction.

"You can feel it, can't you?" he murmured into her ear. "It's building up inside of you. It's okay. Spread your legs and enjoy it."

She shook her head violently, refusing him and wanting to run away. But it was this or what he said would happen to her if she made it too difficult on them, and she didn't want to be beaten or-or do  _this_  with a lot of guys.

She felt the waves of pleasure go through her, building up rapidly, and she couldn't help her lower half quivering and her back arching upwards as she came violently against his hand. She started to cry even louder, but he just shoved his fingers into her mouth and forced her to suck on them.

"Good girl," he approved. "You're learning. You'll be trained in no time."

She sobbed around his fingers, inwardly hoping for  _anyone_  to come save her because she didn't know how she could stay and do this.

* * *

Giovanni massaged the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. This was a disastrous case. The parallels weren't lost on him either, though at least he and his Team didn't go anywhere near the brutality and viciousness these people reveled in. The pokémon they stole got some rough treatment, especially at the hands of his more aggressive agents, but the Team was better off with pokémon that were whole and not broken. A broken pokémon would be weak and therefore useless to Team Rocket.

That didn't seem to be the case with these traffickers.

They needed to break in their victims, shame them and break their spirit. They become more compliant and malleable to their group. Shaming them made them undermine their self-worth and less likely to run away.

_A human trafficker can earn 20 times what he or she paid for a girl. Provided the girl was not physically brutalized to the point of ruining her beauty, the pimp could sell her again for a greater price because he had trained her and broken her spirit, which saves future buyers the hassle._

He'd read the reports Oak had handed him. He'd always been a man of money and looked for profit, but even this disgusted him. And the thought that Ash, his Ash, might be in such a situation made him balk and yet also feel furious. And when he considered that the most business conducted in human trafficking was the sex-trade, it made him feel all the more dread.

_Sex traffickers often train girls themselves, raping them and teaching them sex acts._

His hands clenched and he swore if he found out any of them had touched Ash like that, he would put a bullet into their head.

The sound of flesh being pounded on stopped, and Giovanni looked to see Attila looking at him questioningly.

"Sir, he says he has nothing else to tell us," Attila informed him, using a clean rag to wipe his hands. "Do you want me to dump him back onto the streets?"

Giovanni calmly observed the man they'd managed to find, a lower-ranked individual in the human trafficking business. There may be six different main Teams around, but it seemed there was only one group (a very large group) that maintained this human trafficking faction.

"You really have nothing else to tell me?" Giovanni asked coldly, and the man shook his head tiredly, face beaten to a pulp. "A name? Someone important. You can't do that?"

"A…a man," his captive thought slowly. "He's high in the group. I-I don't know his name. He goes by a lot of names. Howard….Frederick…Anthony…He's got dirty blond hair and green eyes. That's all I know."

Giovanni hummed an acknowledgement, taking off his jacket and then his tie. Then he folded his sleeves up his arms and smiled coldly at the man.

"It's much too dangerous to just let you go."

"W-wait, please!"

Attila silently went behind the man and tightened up the restraints, before moving away and letting his boss have at it. Giovanni cocked his fist back and then landed a hard punch to the man's face, breaking his nose and blood splattering from the impact.

"Giovanni, are you sure you don't want me to deal with this?" Attila spoke up, watching his boss in concern. Giovanni usually didn't do the dirty stuff himself, or handled the interrogations personally unless he needed to.

A flash of Ash's face, the little girl from so long ago and yet still fresh in his head, went through his mind. His mouth tightened into a frown.

"No, I will handle this, Attila. This group has…wronged me, you can say. I want to personally make sure they go 'out of business.'" Giovanni landed another punch into the man's gut, ignoring the scream he let out. "Besides, I have a lot of stress because of all this, that I need to take care of."

He'd take it out on each and every one of them, if he had to.

* * *

Pikachu sniffed around the area, eyes darting around nervously as he tried to make sure he wasn't seen. But he was determined to stay with the group, while being unseen. They'd taken his mistress after all, and he wouldn't allow it.

However, she'd gotten separated from the group, and now he had to find her.

He'd follow along, while being hidden, but first chance he had, he would get Ash out of there. He just didn't know what had happened or where and why they had separated her from the others. He didn't even understand why they'd taken those people captive in the first place. All he knew was that he had to find Maximus and Ash, and get the hell out of there.

Pikachu let out a light growl as he saw the people that were to blame for all this, though he didn't see the knife lady that had lured them into the group to go backstage, or the man that had taken Ash and had enticed them into coming to see the show in the first place. However, he did smell a familiar smell and his nose twitched as he followed the scent.

Wondering if he was getting closer, he cheered inwardly as he found a familiar pokéball. He hopped onto the table and grabbed it, before carefully finding his way back down and moving away from that tent. He hid somewhere and held the pokéball, continuing to hide and not be seen by the group of people that had taken his precious person.

Maximus had to wait a little. He would surely be spotted and they couldn't sneak around, as was Pikachu's current goal in order to find Ash and rescue her from this place.

He chittered quietly to the pokéball in his paws, which stopped shaking as it had started to as soon as Pikachu had grabbed hold of it. He made his reassurances to the Charizard, who would wait patiently for now.

They just needed to find Ash and then they could make their move.

* * *

When Ash woke up, she was still in the office. Her mind was blank for a moment, not remembering anything, until it all slammed back to her all at once and she had to bite back a whimper. She curled up in a ball on her side, her mind racing with thoughts of what was going to happen to her. And then the door slammed opened and Ash shot up, staring in fear at the door. But it wasn't Tobias. It was Miranda, and Ash didn't know if that was any better.

Miranda smiled slowly. "Well, well, Princess. You look lonesome."

She came towards Ash, who cringed back, but had nowhere to go. The woman's slender fingers reached up and took a piece of Ash's hair.

"Such pretty hair," she murmured, before letting go. Ash was thankful that she hadn't gone back to yanking on it. "Follow me."

Subdued, Ash did as she was told, fearful of the consequences. She made her tired, aching body follow after the woman, who walked a brisk pace towards another room somewhat near. When they entered the room, Ash noticed it was mostly bare, large, and the only things in there were a multitude of cameras at around different angles. Miranda walked to the middle of the room, where a huge mat lay, and Ash followed, wondering what she wanted. Ash's attention became distracted, as she gazed closer at the cameras.

When she turned back to Miranda to hesitantly question her, all she got was a quick glimpse of a manic smile and then a smack to her face that had her fall to the ground. She crashed onto the floor, but didn't have time to recover as Miranda was on her and yanked her up, while pinning her legs to the floor by sitting on them.

"Be pretty for the cameras," she cooed, and forcefully turned her head to face one.

And she realized what Miranda was going to put her through, and realized that this was one of those snuff films.

Instinctively, she lashed out and managed to hit Miranda in the face. But before Ash could take advantage of it, Miranda had a hold on her and began wrapping a rope quickly around Ash's neck, and then she was suffocating Ash.

"Cat got your tongue, Princess? Ah well.  _Try_  to scream loudly for the cameras, won't you?" she drawled, tightening the rope.

And then Miranda took out a knife, and playfully tapped it against Ash's cheek.

"Maybe I need to make you scream," she said, letting the knife trail from Ash's elbow and to her wrist, avoiding anything major.

Ash choked against her, trying to desperately escape from Miranda, whose vice grip on her seemed inescapable. The knife came up to the level of Ash's eyes, and Miranda flipped it into a reverse grip, pointing it at Ash's eyes as she slowly moved towards one of them.

"Why don't I dig out one of those honey eyes of yours?"

Without warning, someone yanked the knife away from Miranda and tossed it to the side. And the very same person grabbed Miranda and tossed her violently away, like a rag doll.

"Idiot woman," Tobias spat out. "Don't damage merchandise. I already told you she wasn't in the snuff group. And this is also why I don't let you in on those –you kill them too quickly, and don't draw it out like you're supposed to."

Ash listened, all the while holding onto her neck and coughing harshly. They were insane. Both of them were. And they were wrong –something was just wrong with them. How could they do things like this, and not care? Or enjoy it? She didn't know which was worse.

Tobias picked her up and then headed out, and Ash wondered if maybe she would've been better off with Miranda after all. At least she'd kill her and she wouldn't be here, and go through all this.

Started 10/12/14 – Completed 10/15/14


	5. Burning Inferno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains graphic violence, horrific descriptions detailing human trafficking, and a brief non-con scene. May be triggery. Read at your own discretion or PM if you want to skip the chapter and ask for a summary of events.

Tobias hadn't touched her since the first time. She was glad for it, but wary by what it meant, especially after all his threats. However, she would at least be grateful for it, even as she waited tensely for things to change for the worse for her.

"This room is yours," he told her a week from what had happened with him and Miranda. He pointed to the adjoining room to his office. "This is where you will stay while we're stationed here. That is also my room. Do you understand?"

Ash nodded meekly, but the thought of being forced to room with him inwardly made her shudder. She preferred being held with the others, in that dingy room, although the numbers were beginning to lessen by the day.

She didn't want to think of what was happening to all of them.

"We'll begin your training," he declared then, and she stared at him in horror. "We won't be able to do the more aggressive stuff now, or else your injuries will get aggravated, but there are still plenty of things that you can learn and do in the meantime."

Noticing Ash's look, he shook his head and smiled emptily at her.

"You should be grateful. Unlike the others, you're being treated much more kindly. Plenty of the other women are already being sold out, even to buyers who would prefer to break them in themselves. Other women who are being trained now, are being trained  _while_  being sold out to buyers. It doesn't even matter if any of them are injured –they would be sold out or trained in any case, so long as they're fuckable."

Ash whimpered and unconsciously started to back away, which only made Tobias stride closer to her. He grabbed her chin roughly and stared into her eyes with a sneering look.

"Remember your place and you won't get hurt. All you have to do is remember that," he growled.

His hand snuck down and snaked under her skirt, and one of her hands automatically flew up to stop him. But she reluctantly stopped herself at the last minute, forcing her hand to grab onto the hem of the shirt she wore, twisting it anxiously. Her other, injured arm lay uselessly by her side.

As he begun those horrid things he did to her last time, she could only wish that she was anywhere but there.

When she came the first time, she thought it was over. However, Tobias didn't step away from her, instead ducking down and pushing his head under her skirt and pressing his lips to her already moist entrance.

"W-what are you –" before she could finish questioning him, his tongue flicked out and touched her and she was embarrassed to have let out a squeal.

This time she couldn't help using her good hand to push against his head, trying to get him away from her. But one of his hands roughly grabbed her wrist and squeezed it painfully, and she cried against the wall while he licked at her.

Afterwards, having cummed again, Tobias stood up and stared at her critically.

"You'll need to learn not to cry so much, or try to get away," he muttered, scrutinizing her. "There are those who like some fight in their girls, but it's better if you didn't."

He switched moods and expressions, smiling at her and stepping into her space again. She tried not to shudder and kept very still.

"Did you like that? Did you feel good?" he purred, brushing her hair back.

She blinked back tears, biting her lip as she kept quiet and didn't answer him. He frowned and she wondered what she did wrong now.

"If a customer asks you something like that, you answer appropriately," he told her sternly. "Say yes. Answer positively to them, even if you hated it or it hurt. Do you understand?"

She nodded quickly. "Y-yes. I liked it. A lot."

Ash felt like throwing up after saying that, because she hated it. She hated him, she hated this place, and she was starting to hate herself.

Tobias nodded in satisfaction. He pointed to his couch. "Good. Now go over there and sit down. Lift up your skirt and spread your legs. We're going to keep doing this until you're used to it and know how to better react."

She stood there, frozen in shock and staring at him incredulously. When she saw his face begin to take on a dark, irritable look, she snapped out of it and hurried to the couch. Even though her face was scrunched up and ready to cry, she sat down on the couch like he told her to, and tentatively placed the heels of her feet on the edge of the couch's seats. After hesitating a moment, she began to spread her bent legs apart, and kept them wide open so that they were separated and she was ready for him to do what he wanted with her. Her hands shook as they gripped the edge of her skirt, pulling it up and leaving her lower half visible to his eyes.

When he knelt in front of her, she knew she hated it this way more, because she had to watch him assault her.

* * *

Giovanni watched the proceedings, lip curling in disgust. His agents were gathered in the area, ready to strike when the signal was given, but he had a special spot in the audience as a "buyer."

His skin was crawling and he wanted to grab his gun from inside his jacket and shoot down every last trafficker milling about the area.

He was going to have to do a major overhaul in Team Rocket's regime –he would  _not_  tolerate  _any_ comparison to these traffickers of any kind. It sickened him to the point where he would utterly decimate these people and show them how much they disgusted him and how much he wanted nothing to do with them.

Unfortunately, in order to pull this off, Giovanni had to pose as a buyer for a "slave."

At the moment, he was stationed inside an empty warehouse at the docks of Vermilion City, sitting down with a bunch of other buyers, as a group of traffickers were setting up for the "auction." In a moment, they would start parading around their captives on the stage, and then the bidding would begin.

He was hoping Ash would be here.

His latest information said that this group of traffickers had been in Saffron City, which was where the latest bunch of large cluster captures had been taken. If she'd been captured, then she could have been part of this group, though he wasn't sure she could have made it that far. Her Charizard, his old companion, could have taken her the distance, but there weren't any sureties.

Then again, there were smaller factions around in each city, even individuals, who could have been the ones who'd lured her in. He just had no absolutes right then, and until he found any information on her, then he had to settle for aggressively going after every lead he got.

Before he could start thinking of other things, one trafficker stepped up and addressed the crowd.

"Please be seated. We will begin momentarily. If everyone will have their paddles ready, we'll start with our first merchandise."

Giovanni's grip tightened around the paddle, so tight he almost snapped it off. He told himself he had to be calm, but when the first girl was pushed onto the stage and stumbled into view for everyone to see, he nearly snarled. She looked horrible –there were bruises all over her arms and legs, and there was a cut on her lip. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying heavily.

If this girl looked like this, he didn't want to see how Ash looked. He would murder someone immediately.

If someone harmed a single hair on her, there would be hell to pay. And Giovanni would willingly deliver that punishment himself. The young girl, somehow and someway, had made a huge impact on him in the short amount of time she had managed to get to know him, and he her.

He wouldn't take kindly to her being in pain or being hurt in any way.

Giovanni sat there through the auction, his dark onyx eyes darkening even more as he watched each person pass through the stage, and yet not a single one was Ash. This was clearly becoming a dead end, and he was eager to shut down the operation now and have every single one of these people, traffickers and buyers alike, suffer at his and his organization's hands.

Each slave went through, announced as to what "category" they fit in best, and then the bidding process would start. A lot of them, mostly women and children, were sold off as sex slaves. Giovanni inwardly sneered, wondering if these people all had such problems retrieving a woman for themselves that they had to resort to getting themselves a personal slave to force themselves onto.

But seriously, he noted what and who was buying the slaves. Some of them were personal buyers, which meant the slaves would go to an actual home to serve their new "masters" there. A few buyers were owners of brothels, and some other seedy places that discreetly (or not so discreetly) offered "extra" services. Two were rival massage parlor owners, and the others variously distributed the slaves between strip clubs, peep and touch shows, and other venues. He had no doubt the ones not bought, would still be sold out by the traffickers themselves.

Actually, he had no doubt the  _top_  of those that were captured were kept by the traffickers and to be sold personally by them for the profit and repeated profit. Which made him wonder if he had to consider that Ash was kept with the other traffickers, considered too "good" and too high-quality to just be bought and sold by buyers, and if he was going to have to hunt down deeper into this group.

Though he pitied and felt sorry for the other slaves being sold, even those that were sold into labor work, his priority had and always would be Ash.

So he raised his paddle and twirled it, and then chaos was being sewn throughout the building as his agents burst out of their hiding and wrecked havoc.

It wasn't long until everyone in that building, from the buyers to traffickers, were all rounded up and tied securely. Looking through all the slaves there, even the ones previously bought, he saw that Ash wasn't there for sure. In any case, all of them were brought together and were being treated for the moment, for any injuries or ailments that could be treated on the spot. When the law enforcement came, Team Rocket would be long gone and the slaves could be further taken cared of, and returned to their homes.

For the moment, though…

The trafficker that had been announcing the whole thing sat in front of him, tied up and sweating bullets as Giovanni examined him. After a moment of silence from Giovanni, the man snapped in front of him.

"What is it? Why are you here? I don't understand why you're doing this or why Team Rocket is involving themselves. You stayed out of our affairs and we've stayed out of yours!" he yelled in a panic.

Giovanni sat on a crate and kept examining the man.

"You know…I'm starting to regret letting you and yours fester around for this long," Giovanni tilted his head. "But I'm correcting that now. Anyway, I want information. Tell me everything that you know," he ordered.

The man squealed easily and Giovanni gained a lot of knowledge from this. But he didn't get anything specifically on Ash, so he was starting to get frustrated.

"Domino!" Giovanni called out, and his petite but ruthless agent looked his way, stopping her current harassment of one of the traffickers to the side.

The blonde female pulled back her hand, pouting as she had to stop the slaps she'd been eagerly dealing out, though she eyed the blood on her uniform's gloves in disgust.

"Yes, Giovanni? What do you need me to do?" she turned to him, sighing in aggravation but pulling away from her victim.

"There's a crate over there. It contains what these people call 'snuff films.' Retrieve it. I want to see them before we anonymously send them to the police," Giovanni didn't know the term, but it brought an uneasy feeling in his gut.

"Yes, sir," he watched as she dragged a few others with her and they headed over to where Giovanni had pointed out the crate was. Then he turned back to his newest "informant."

"Do you know this girl?" Giovanni asked stoically, taking out one of the photos he'd pilfered from Ash's room from inside his jacket, and showed it to the man.

The man's eyes widened. "That's what this is all about," he mumbled. "It's about that girl."

Giovanni scowled and dealt the man a backhand.

"Quiet," he hissed at him. "Answer the question.  _Do you know_ _ **her**_?"

The man winced and peered more closely at the picture. Then he cringed.

"That girl called Giovanna?" he asked him hesitantly.

Giovanni refrained from showing an overt reaction on his face, but he recognized the feminine form of his own name. So Ash used an alias, did she? Using his name no less. Smart girl. And he felt a brief flutter at the thought that she'd thought of him and had used him as a base for a name.

"And what if it is? What of it?" Giovanni kept his stoic façade, waiting for him to get all the information he could and not revealing anything that could jeopardize that.

"She told…Tony her name was Giovanna Akagi," the man muttered, and Giovanni recognized the last name. If he remembered right, the day Ash ran off, he'd just sealed a deal with Cyrus Akagi about a business venture. She would have seen that, and probably took on Cyrus' last name. "She was part of this group, from Saffron."

Okay, so she  _had_  managed to get all the way to Saffron City on Maximus. He was finally getting some facts about Ash's journey out, but he needed more.

"Why isn't she here then?" Giovanni didn't understand why she wasn't with this group, all of whom had come from the Saffron capture as well.

The man swallowed heavily. "She's in…she's in Kalos."

Giovanni stared at him blankly.

" _Kalos?!_ " Giovanni roared, standing up and towering over the frightened man, who flinched back in terror. "What is she doing in Kalos?" he bent down lower, close to the man's face, and hissing menacingly into it.

The man started to stutter, but forced himself to be clearer at Giovanni's glare.

"S-she's with Tony," he said quickly. "He took an interest in her, I think. It sounded like he wanted to personally train her himself."

At that, Giovanni's mind drew a blank again and he stared at him with a disbelieving look. And then, before anyone could register anything, before the man could see it coming, a red haze drew itself across Giovanni's vision and he lashed out, smacking the man across the face. The force of the blow was enough to send the man flying off the chair. Still tied up, he lay on the floor, groaning in pain.

However, Giovanni wasn't done and was blindly attacking the man viciously, furiously stomping on the man's body before dropping to his knees and just dealing blow after blow on any area that he could hit, holding onto the man with one hand and punishing him with the other.

A touch to his shoulder caused him to jump up and whirl around to face the culprit, only to see one of his Elites flinch back. Pierce held up his hands, eyes wide.

"Boss…are you okay? Do you want us to take care of him?" Pierce pointed at the man lying barely conscious on the floor beside Giovanni.

Giovanni turned to look at the man and the rage grew inside again. He snarled and bent down, grabbing the man's collar and dragging him off to the side. He dumped him there and then addressed the group of traffickers tied up and watching him fearfully.

"Which ones of you are low-ranking?"

As expected, with his display, the ones higher-ranked obviously ratted out those who were lower-ranked, and Giovanni had the lower-ranked set nearer to the hostages. He grabbed one of them though.

"Are you a low-rank member?" Giovanni gave the younger man a hard stare.

"Y-yes," the kid, because he didn't look older than 19, nodded reluctantly.

"And all those over there –they're higher-ranked, while those that were picked out with you are lower-ranked, yes?" Giovanni wanted confirmation.

At the boy's confirmed nod, Giovanni let go of him and ordered some of his agents to bring the high-ranked members over to the man that he'd nearly beaten to death. They were all sat down on chairs, their ties tied to the chairs, and then the original man was put onto a chair and tied to it as well.

And then Giovanni grabbed the can of gasoline that he'd spotted off to the side, and strode over to those members, pouring the gasoline all over them. He ignored their screams of protest and the deathly silence of everyone else around him.

"Attila!" he barked out, and the blond, muscular man quietly but quickly strode over to his side. "Lighter," Giovanni held his hand out for the man's lighter.

Attila unquestioningly gave it to Giovanni, and then went back to his place with the rest of the Rockets, leaving Giovanni to stand alone in front of the gas-soaked high-ranked traffickers.

"You are all going to burn here, before you finally burn in Hell," Giovanni said coldly.

He flipped the cover of the lighter off, switched it on, and then threw it at one of their feet.

Giovanni remorselessly watched their burning carcasses, reveling in their screams of agony and suffering.

* * *

Attila said nothing about his lighter being thrown at the traffickers and left to be burned with them. Aside from the fact that Giovanni was the one who did it and he was his boss who had all say, Attila could always buy another one, especially with the check he received as his salary from the Team.

And these bastards deserved this.

Everything important had been packed up, so they'd left quickly after the men and women traffickers had begun to be burned alive in their spots in the middle of the warehouse, which then spread out to the rest of the area (aided by more gasoline being thrown around the warehouse to quicken the burning down of the building). There was a strange silence surrounding those that were left, and Giovanni was standing unapproachable and silent to the side, not facing any of them.

Although Attila agreed that those people deserved what they got, he couldn't help but cringe at the smell of burnt skin and the continued screams of the people inside. The people outside, particularly the former slaves/hostages, were eerily staring at the burning warehouse unrepentantly, and some even had small, strange smiles on their faces.

He couldn't blame them either, for enjoying the misery and deaths of those that had kidnapped and enslaved them, even though it was slightly terrifying to see so many people unaffected by such a brutal end, and the lingering smell and screams. The rest of the Rockets were pointedly looking away from the building and the former kidnapped people, going about their business meticulously. The remaining traffickers and buyers were staring horrified at the building.

Only Giovanni and the former slaves seemed completely unaffected by the callous murder.

The truth was that Team Rocket had never really gone this far. They didn't usually go off on a murder spree, despite the fact one or two people would occasionally go missing off the streets (but they were usually shady people or just outright criminals). But this…this was on another level.

And yet Attila couldn't say he felt sorry for any of these traffickers masquerading around as people. He couldn't find it in him to really regret the actions the Team were now taking, or feel anything but disgust for the traffickers that they were more or less hunting down now.

He knew and felt that these traffickers deserved every single punishment they got. They were despicable and if Giovanni, for some reason, suddenly decided that he was going to go after every last one of them and burn them all alive, then Attila wouldn't disagree or refuse to do what was asked of him to get these bastards to suffer.

Giovanni moved and Attila watched him carefully, but all his boss did was walk over to the group of former slaves.

"Do any of you have experience with a gun?" Giovanni asked flatly.

When a few of them hesitantly raised their hands, Giovanni gestured to some of his Rockets to come over, and then proceeded to have them hand over their firearms to the few that had raised their hands.

"You are to guard them," Giovanni pointed over to the still restrained buyers and the traffickers that were left. "My Team and I aren't supposed to be here, and will probably be arrested if we stay. We've called the police and they will come here to retrieve you all, treat you, and then send you back to your homes."

When he was sure they understood, he turned to the lower-ranked member he'd talk to before, who flinched when Giovanni neared him.

"I had no use for those higher-ranked members anyway," Giovanni started indifferently. "I would hope that my assumption that you and the rest of your cohorts will be more willing to testify was correct."

At the young man's hurried nod, Giovanni smiled coldly. "Good," and then he turned to the buyers, his smile turning into a sneer. "I would hope you all will cooperate as well, but I don't think it's too needed."

Those tapes better have something about Ash, because he was steadily growing furious at the thought of that "Tony" being anywhere near her.

He was going to tear that man from limb to limb…

* * *

Honestly, Giovanni regretted not finding out what a "snuff film" was first, before he went off and decided to watch a few. He felt himself dry heave the first time he put in one of the videos, watching as a five year old little boy was carved from the throat and down to his navel, exposing his insides. And then they tore out his intestines, slowly severed a leg, and then finally decapitated him.

Giovanni had to take a break and stand away from his monitor, calming himself down before he went to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of vodka. The next few gulps calmed him even more, and he decided that having alcohol in him would help him watch the videos better, so he refilled his glass before he sat back down.

He also thought that just skimming the videos would be okay, but he still couldn't stomach watching the bits he saw. He almost completely stopped at all, until the last one opened up to only the room. It was quiet and then there were voices, and then he was seeing  _Ash in the film_.

She'd grown up well, looking just as pretty as she had when she was younger, if only in a more grown up way though. She still had some baby fat at her age, but he could already see she was going to be absolutely beautiful. In fact, she already was…

And then it was all ruined and his thoughts came to an immediate screeching halt, when the woman who had brought her into the room smacked her across the face and Ash dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.

Shit, he'd  _forgotten_  this was with the pile of fucking snuff films and that Ash had been brought into the same room all the others had been killed in.

It was like a train wreck and he couldn't stop watching. Ash fought back as much as she could, but then that fucking crazy woman had a rope around Ash's neck and was choking the life out of her – _"Cat got your tongue, Princess? Ah well. Try to scream loudly for the cameras, won't you?"_  –then there was a knife and she was cutting Ash, and then it was pointed directly and too close to Ash's eyes, and that woman was threatening to  _dig_  out one of Ash's gorgeous eyes –

" _Why don't I dig out one of those honey eyes of yours?"_

The video cut off and Giovanni let out a loud curse, standing up abruptly and grabbing his lamp, tearing it from its place and throwing it against his wall.

* * *

She picked at the thread of the new slip she was wearing. Tobias had made her change into it and said she was going to wear that from now on. But it was cold and thin, and too revealing for her to comfortably wear, especially around others and in public.

It was nightwear, and what she knew those gossipy housewives back in Pallet would whisper was meant to seduce men and make a woman look sexy.

"Are you hungry?" Tobias asked her, and she glanced up at him miserably. "Come eat."

She reluctantly came over and sat down beside him, knowing she was being treated better than the others and that she should take this time to keep herself healthy and strong. If she did, she would have a better chance of escaping. She hadn't given up on that, and she wouldn't no matter what.

No matter what he did to her, no matter what happened, she just had to keep that thought in her head. She was going to get out.

"Open," he ordered, and she forced her mouth opened, trying not to retch or alternately bite down on his fingers as he personally fed her.

Some juice from the raspberry leaked out of the corner of her mouth, and Tobias gripped her chin, leaning forward. The moment she saw his tongue slip out of his mouth, Ash closed her eyes and held herself still, trying to not flinch away as he licked the trail of the juice clean. When he forced his tongue into her mouth, she didn't react and definitely didn't bite it, as much as she wanted to.

When he pulled back, she looked down at her lap, and tried to keep her eyes from watering. He continued to feed her and she mechanically ate.

He finally left when they were both done and she let herself cry then.

It led to Ash having another restless night later on and waking up feeling even more miserable than before. However, she was brightened by the face of someone she hadn't expected.

"Pika!"

"Pikachu!" Ash quietly exclaimed, grabbing hold of her trusty companion.

She felt tears prick her eyes, but they were happy tears this time. She hugged him tightly, though she let go when she felt a small, hard ball. When she moved away, she saw that Pikachu held Maximus' pokéball.

"Maximus!"

His pokéball shook a little and she smiled gratefully.

"I'm so happy you two are here, but what if you get caught? They'll hurt you!" Ash said worriedly.

"Pika pika. Pikapi!" Pikachu said stubbornly.

She smiled a little at her Pikachu's dedication and followed after him, sneaking out of the room. After a dizzying amount of hallways and stairs, Ash couldn't believe it when she'd made it outside. However, as soon as she stepped out, she was caught by a worker.

"Hey you! Aren't you Tony's girl? What are you doing out?" he narrowed his eyes at her.

She cringed back and stared at him fearfully. Pikachu bravely took a step in front of her, yelling at the man.

"Move away, you rodent!" the trafficker snarled at her Pikachu.

He strode over to her and harshly grabbed her wrist. Pikachu let out a thunderbolt and the man let go screaming. However, the attack was weak enough that he only stumbled back and didn't stop him long enough. Pikachu had underestimated the man's resilience, and was thrown back by a kick to his ribs.

He was forced to watch as the man grabbed at Ash and threw her to the floor, violently beating her in response to Pikachu's attack on his person. Pikachu growled and forced himself up, and it was at that same time as he let loose a very powerful thunder attack, that Maximus escaped from his pokéball.

The man was horrifically electrocuted, screaming at the electricity rushing all through his body, only for Pikachu to stop and Maximus to spot his mistress and let out a terrible roar.

Maximus blew fire from his mouth and aimed it at the man, burning him alive and encasing him in fire.

Started 12/1/14 – Completed 12/2/14


	6. Soothing Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Contains graphic material briefly in the beginning.

She could smell the horrid burning flesh, long hear the echoing screams, and couldn't scratch out the image of a body in flames and skin melting off until muscle and then bone started to show. His eyeballs were beginning to almost pop out, if only because the skin around it was melting back. At some parts, some of his skin was blackening and then fully becoming burnt.

Even as she lay on the ground in pain from the beating, Ash was able to easily see the whole thing being done, and even almost in slow motion.

She knew this was her chance. She could use this to run away from there, with Maximus and Pikachu. But her entire body was screeching in pain and she couldn't get rid of the image of the man burning alive.

Fortunately, her pokémon were loyal and smart, and Maximus bent down and quickly scooped her up, with her Pikachu climbing onto Maximus' back and keeping a tight hold around the fiery pokémon's neck. Without another pause, Maximus started to run and get out of there.

Dazed, Ash wondered why Maximus hadn't started to fly them away.

* * *

Siebold looked up and saw gray skies. It was probably going to rain soon, by his estimation. He would have to hurry up to his home, especially if he did not want the ingredients for his tortellini soup to go to waste in the rain.

Just then, he saw a billow of smoke coming from an alley, and he curiously moved closer and peeked into it. There was an enormous Charizard inside, hunching over itself and its wings clearly mangled and injured. He scowled to himself, knowing that whoever had done such a thing to the poor pokémon was a disgusting creature. If it had been its owner, then Siebold would be sure to report this person…

Cautiously making his way into the alley, he made sure to kick a small piece of rock to announce his presence into the alley. Immediately, the Charizard snapped its head towards Siebold's direction, snarling menacingly at him.

"It's okay," he tried to soothe it, though his hands being full of groceries was impeding his ability to show the Charizard he meant no harm. He slowly put his bags to the floor and held up his hands. "I mean you no harm."

The Charizard was still in an aggressive stance, watching him closely.

"Let me help you," Siebold said then. "You are hurt. I promise I only wish to help."

It grunted and shifted, and suddenly was standing at its full impressive height, more than towering over Siebold and its head almost out of the alley. But Siebold caught sight of what it held in its arms, and he had the sinking feeling that the owner wasn't the cause of the Charizard's injuries, but was the poor girl in its arms.

"T-that girl –"

It roared then, holding the girl protectively closer and beginning to get ready to breathe fire.

"Wait!" Siebold hurriedly said. "I won't hurt her, I swear! She needs help too, doesn't she? I can help her."

It stopped its attack and glared down at him, scrutinizing him almost. But it settled down and suddenly a Pikachu popped up over the Charizard's shoulder.

"Pika Pika!" the electric mouse scrambled down the Charizard and rushed to him, tugging at his pants.

He hesitantly followed it to the Charizard, who stiffened upon him coming closer. But Siebold was safely by its side and managed to have a clearer view of the girl.

"Is she your owner?"

Both pokémon gave an affirmative answer, and he wondered what had happened to these three that they had ended up here and in this condition.

"Can you walk?" he addressed the Charizard, who nodded. "Then carry her and follow me to my home. I can help you there."

He had a feeling that he wouldn't have been allowed to carry the girl anyway.

He turned and went back to his groceries, picking them up and heading home quickly. He was very aware of the loud footsteps behind him, signaling the heavy gait of the Charizard following him closely. It made him hurry faster to his home, where he quickly put the groceries onto the table and went back out of the villa to where the Charizard and Pikachu waited in his courtyard. He carefully took the girl from her protector, who obviously was reluctant to let go.

"Do either of you have a pokéball?" he asked them after he'd settled the girl in a comfortable place, and the Pikachu came over to him and held up a pokéball and then pointed to Charizard. Then it pointed to itself and shook its head.

"So this one belongs to that Charizard and you don't have one?" he came to the conclusion.

Pikachu nodded, so Siebold turned to the Charizard. "I can fix up your Mistress here, but there's only so much I can do for you. The little injuries I can make sure to fix with a Hyper Potion and a Burn Heal, but your wings…I will need to take you to the Pokémon Center."

The Charizard grunted and shifted restlessly, and he assumed that meant it wasn't happy with that suggestion.

"There's only so much I can do for your wings," he murmured, eying the torn up wings sadly. "Nurse Joy can do more for you. I do not wish for your wings to become permanently crippled."

It was quiet a moment, before the Pikachu came up to it and said something. The Charizard huffed, but used its snout to push Siebold in the direction of the girl in his villa, and then moving around him to use the same snout to push the pokéball's button, leading to it returning into it. The Pikachu then came up to him and held up the pokéball, and Siebold carefully took it.

"Rest well," he said softly. "You have protected your mistress well."

He had a feeling the Charizard and the Pikachu were the cause of great help of getting away from this girl's drastic situation.

Once he came back inside, the Pikachu followed behind him and watched as he got his supplies together. He would have to work on the girl first, as humans were built more fragile than pokémon and the pokéball would already be helping the Charizard to heal a bit. He hesitated before grabbing his camera. If this was an assault of some kind, it was best he took pictures as evidence against the culprits.

"After I've done what I can, I think I should take her to the hospital," he told the Pikachu.

He was surprised when the Pikachu vehemently shook its head and protested.

"Pika Pika! Pikachu!"

Siebold immediately grew an uneasy feeling. "Okay. I guess I won't."

It seemed he would have to wait until the girl woke up for him to find out anything.

He was quick to take the pictures, before he began cleaning her wounds. Whoever did this to her was thorough in their beating. Much of her skin was discolored, and there was blood everywhere it seemed. Her hair was matted to her forehead and the sides of her face, but as he cleared dirt, blood and sweat from her, he could clearly see she was quite young but also very pretty.

"What is your name, I wonder?" Siebold murmured, pushing her hair out of her face. "And what happened to you and your pokémon?"

But no answer came to him, and she stayed silent in her unconsciousness.

He did what he could for her wounds, disinfecting after he'd finished cleaning them. Then he dressed them in bandages, before contemplating her clothes. Or lack thereof.

She was wearing a simple nightshift, so he wondered what in the world had happened for her to end up outside, in the cold, in only that? It was filthy now too, so it would be his best bet to change her into something warmer and would cover her more.

Quickly, he found pajamas belonging to Valerie, from whenever the female gym leader unexpectedly dropped by and always ended up leaving her things behind after every stay. She always was rather whimsical, but it befitted her favored pokémon type...

"I'm going to change her into something warmer," he informed the Pikachu, showing it the pajamas.

It wrinkled its nose, but nodded its okay, so Siebold did his best to quickly but respectfully take her slip off and put on the pajamas. Afterwards, he tucked her into bed, making sure the blanket covered her and would keep her warm. He could hear the pit patter of the rain, and knew it had started raining as he'd predicted.

"Let us get you and your friend some food. I'm afraid my ballroom is the only place big enough for him, so he'll have to stay there for now, especially with the rain," he told the Pikachu, quickly deducing from its tail that it was a male. It was just a guess, but he thought the Charizard was one as well.

He'd have to get started on that soup too, especially now that he had a guest.

* * *

He'd just finished making the soup when he heard some loud thumps, and thought maybe his guest was up now. Her Pikachu was currently sleeping, as was the Charizard, who had stayed out of the pokéball for the time being. His villa was large, but wasn't large enough to truly accommodate the Charizard's unusual size. It was luck that his ballroom was large enough for it, although it was unfortunately far from where the girl was being kept.

Siebold quickly scooped some soup into a bowl, hoping the girl would like to eat. It would also help warm her enough, and she'd looked cold back out there and in her nightshift. Heading to her room, he was surprised to find she wasn't on the bed and cautiously went inside.

He sighed, seeing the girl curled up in the corner.

"Hello," he said kindly, and she lifted her head quickly, watching him with wide eyes. "Are you hungry?"

She watched him warily, but he held up the bowl. Reaching slowly to the side, he turned on the lights. Cleaned up and underneath the lights, Siebold was painfully reminded just how young she looked.

"I found your Charizard and your Pikachu," he started quietly, thinking that maybe the mention of her faithful pokémon could lower her guard. "They were protectively standing guard over you, but allowed me to lead them here, to where I could help you."

"Maximus and Pikachu are here?" she asked, her voice sounding hoarse.

He disappointedly thought that he'd forgotten she might want some water to soothe her throat and her thirst. How silly, especially as a water trainer…

"I have food here, but I forgot the water. If you'd like to follow me, I can bring you to the kitchen, where you can eat and drink and also see Pikachu," Siebold offered. "Maximus is your Charizard?" at her nod, he continued. "Then he is in my ballroom, sleeping and resting."

She tried to speak, but nothing came out. But she licked her lips and tried again.

"I'll come with you," she said, and then attempted to stand up on wobbly legs.

Frowning to himself, he put aside the bowl in his hands and decided he could pick that one up later and just get her a new one from the kitchen. He traveled to her side and helped steady her, noting her going stiff at his touch. He had her lean against him, using him as a support, and then led the way back to his kitchen, where she could clearly see her Pikachu contentedly asleep by where he had eaten.

In his large and elaborate kitchen, he helped her to the table and prepared another bowl and set it in front of her, before getting some water. He had planned on making crème brulée, but he hadn't the time after finishing the soup, but perhaps she'd like it now…

"This is my recipe for a rustic Italian tortellini soup," he placed the water near her, and gestured at the bowl of soup. "I hope you enjoy."

She gave him a shy smile that made him pause and even feel odd, but also made him smile back as well.

"I shall be making crème brulée for dessert," he decided finally, and thought she might like something sweet to cheer her up.

"Are you a chef?" she asked hesitantly.

He was taken aback by the fact she didn't know who he was, but thought it was a nice change. And he did like being known for his culinary skills as well.

"Yes, you could say that," he nodded at her. "I love cooking. To me, cooking is like an art. I see art as fleeting and intangible at times, just as in cooking, the food disappears quickly and a testament to the taste that was cultivated in making it."

She looked at him in wonderment, and he felt pleased.

"Would you like to help me cook the crème brulée?" he suddenly offered, getting the idea then.

She looked surprised, before giving another shy smile and nodding.

"Very well. I shall wait, for you must eat up first," he returned her smile again, and went to get himself his own bowl of the soup.

As he sat opposite her, he remembered he'd been remised in his manners.

"My name is Siebold," he introduced himself.

She stayed quiet a bit, before she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Ash," she said quietly. "My name's Ash. Thank you…thank you for helping us."

And Siebold had the feeling that he did, indeed, do them a huge help in taking them in.

He surreptitiously watched her after that, delighted at how she seemed to inhale his soup and seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps she was just really hungry, but the look on her face told him that she truly liked it. He also began to eat his food, smiling to himself at another success.

If he could bring enjoyment like that to her through his soup, he hoped he could bring a measure of healing through their crème brulée.

As he found out though, she was a very good cook in her own right. He wanted to ask her all sorts of questions, particularly where she'd learned to cook, but wasn't sure if he was going to be too invasive. She seemed skittish and from what he guessed so far, she and her pokémon had barely escaped from a dangerous situation.

He was hoping to earn a little small bit of trust through making this dessert with her. A lot can be said in cooking and cooking together.

Siebold had considered her injuries, and was glad that making this particular dessert didn't require too much strain on the body. She had no problems moving around too much, and he was glad that she seemed to have no broken bones. He would still like to have her checked out, but considering her pokémon's adamancy against bringing her to a hospital, he had to stay away from that option.

Perhaps she was a runaway? What if she had a bad home life? Or maybe her injuries  _had_  come from home, and she'd run away as a result. There was nothing to say that her injuries came an outside source, and that maybe her family might have –

"When will it be done?" Ash asked curiously, curled up in front of the stove.

He glanced at the timer. "Soon, I should think. We can enjoy it in a few minutes, it looks like."

Siebold looked down at her and felt like he needed to ask those questions, even if they would be invasive. He wanted to help her, but he knew nothing of what happened.

"What happened to you?" he asked suddenly, making her flinch.

She looked up at him from her spot on the floor, and he looked straight into her eyes and could see the pain and fear in them.

"You'll get hurt, if I tell you," she surprisingly whispered. "They'll find you and hurt you for helping me."

He frowned. "Who is 'they'? I'll be fine,  _ma colombe_. I can take care of myself. I just want to make sure you are safe and I do not accidentally allow you back into harm's way."

She clutched her arms around herself and blinked her eyes, staring at the oven for a moment. When she spoke, she did so very softly, and Siebold strained to hear her.

"I ran from home," so she was a runaway. "My mother had been lying to me about letting me go on a pokémon journey when I would be old enough, and Maximus flew me all the way to Saffron City."

That took Siebold completely aback. Kanto? She was from that far away? At least he was glad that his thoughts about her home life didn't seem to come out true.

"There was a free show and they let me in with Pikachu. It was great until the show ended and they were letting some people go see a tour of the back. I got to go, but…"

Siebold suddenly felt a sense of trepidation, and he watched her carefully. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes with her arm.

"They were mean people. They tricked us all and kidnapped us. And then we were all being taken away and they were selling us and doing all bunch of horrible things to everyone!" she cried out, and Siebold lost his breath.

If he was hearing right, he had just saved and helped a victim of one of those traffickers.

He knelt down and pushed his blond hair from his face as he gently took one of her hands. And that's when she burst out and told him everything that had happened to her, and he cringed and yet also felt fury against these monsters.

" _Ma petite colombe_ , I promise you are safe right now. However, I must tell you that you are in Kalos," he reluctantly revealed, and she stared at him in shock.

Then she really started crying and was trying to stop herself, frantically rubbing at her eyes.

"B-but I'm so far away from home! H-How will I ever get back? I don't think M-Maximus can make it all the way back to Kanto," Ash sobbed.

Siebold used his sleeve to wipe her tears, giving her a gentle smile after.

"I will do what I can to help you. For now, you must rest and recover, as do your pokémon," at that, he remembered and hesitated. "I must…show you Maximus now, in fact."

Even if the great fire-type was sleeping, he needed to let her know about Maximus' wings. She didn't seem like she knew…

After taking out the crème brulée from the oven, glad it finished right then, he put it on top of the stove and let it cool off. Then he grabbed her hand and slowly led her to where Maximus slept. As she laid eyes on her beloved Charizard, she gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth.

"H-his wings!" she reached out towards the Charizard, before her hand dropped to her side. She blinked back tears. "What happened?"

Siebold sighed. "I'm not sure. I believe the traffickers that held you had done that. Most likely to keep him from flying off, especially with one of their captures."

"They knew he was mine," Ash whispered. "They…Tobias didn't want me to just run off."

Siebold wished he could find this Tobias. This man had no business being out in the world. He needed to be found and locked away.

He watched silently as Ash walked towards Maximus, and settled herself against his large body, her small arms reaching as much as she could around the Charizard.

* * *

Siebold led her back to the kitchen, knowing that Maximus would probably not be happy seeing his charge upset over his injured state. He silently cut pieces of the dessert, and then turned on the TV. At this point, news of the traffickers were on the television, making Ash stiffen up. However, there was even more surprising news of Team Rocket being involved with them, though he hadn't thought the criminal organization had anything to do with the traffickers. But then he was further surprised by just how exactly Team Rocket was involved with the traffickers.

" _Thieves or vigilantes? In a surprising move, Team Rocket has been steadily hunting down these group of traffickers, brutally making examples of them. Just recently, a group of victims and traffickers were extracted from a site in Vermilion, where sources say Team Rocket infiltrated and then interrupted a slave auction in an unnamed warehouse. They then rescued the victims, before taking the higher-ranks of the traffickers and setting them alight, burning them alive._

" _Rumors have even surfaced that the leader of Team Rocket had been there and had exacted that deed himself, though this has yet to be confirmed. Miriam Hall, you've been vocal about the focus on the Teams, and how the focus should instead be focused on these traffickers. What is your opinion about this sudden change in this story?"_

" _I've said it before –our focus was entirely too much on those Teams. It's incredibly ironic and ridiculous now that one of those Teams, that a_ _ **criminal**_ _group, had to be the ones to take matters into their own hands. I applaud them. In fact, I would rather put my full support behind a bunch of criminal vigilantes that are actually doing something about this situation, than our lackluster law force who has done nothing so far to fix this horrible problem."_

Siebold had no idea why the change of heart, but he wished Team Rocket would completely and quickly eliminate this group of people. Normally, he (and he suspected many of the other gym leaders and the Elite Four, not just of his region even) hadn't thought too much on the ongoing situation about these traffickers or really put in any input or help, especially since the traffickers and their activities went under the radar (more so when the spotlight was usually on the Teams in the first place).

He glanced at the quiet girl near him, spooning a piece of the dessert and morosely eating it.

He suppose, when confronted of it and experiencing firsthand the tragedy of a victim that had actually managed to escape the hold of those traffickers, made things be put into perspective. It made him disgusted at himself and the others, at how blasé they'd been about the situation, and how much the focus on the Teams had obstructed their view of other illegal and inhumane things that had been going on from right under their nose.

And the fact was, who knew who was part of those traffickers, if Pikachu and Ash were so reticent to reach out to others?

He wanted to help her, but he wasn't sure how. There weren't anyone he was sure of, and he had become suspicious of places like hospitals and the police station, if Ash's hesitance and refusal were anything to go by. Who to trust, who to keep away? Where to go?

"You'll be fine here," he reassured her. At the least, she could stay at his home. "I will make sure no harm comes before you here."

Ash was startled at his words, before she hesitantly gave a grateful smile. He was lucky enough she managed to trust him, and he would do all he could to help her. His eyes were suddenly drawn in the direction where he knew Maximus was.

The Charizard had saved her, and he could feel how attached and loved the pokémon was by Ash. They had such a strong bond already, without even going on a journey together…

"Ash, how would you like to learn about Mega Evolution?"

And as she looked at him curiously, he knew he'd made the right choice to find a way to help Maximus get even stronger than he already was, in order to protect her.

* * *

It was a week later that Siebold had a meeting with the other Kalos Elite and Diantha. There was going to be something about restricting the number of challengers per week, to allow them and their pokémon adequate rest and their own downtime, and he was quite glad for it. Usually, there wasn't many challengers in the first place, but recently however, there seemed to be a huge surge of them and they all wanted to battle at the same time, same day, or at least the same week. They were even considering adapting to Kanto's usual method of challengers only coming from a League winner, rather than any who had successfully obtained all the badges…

"I believe we should try out the restrictions first, before we decide using the Indigo standard," Wikstrom solemnly suggested.

"If we do, we could at least have had tried to accommodate the challengers, before we give it up and let them battle it out for a spot to challenge us," Drasna agreed.

Siebold stayed quiet, though he admitted that he mostly wasn't too concerned about this. He had left Ash alone at his home, even with just her pokémon, and he was worried about her. He hadn't left her alone before, and he was unsure and worried what would happen while he was gone. What if one of those traffickers  _had_  managed to –

"Siebold, what do you think?" Diantha asked him.

Siebold hid his flinch and looked at the Champion with a steady gaze. "I agree with the others, if only to show we made an effort for the challengers. Many of them come to us, even when they are clearly not ready, so fighting against a League winner would give us the most prepared opponent possible. Eventually the Indigo standard should be put in place and our time will not be wasted with arrogant and immature challengers."

Malva laughed lightly. "Well said, Siebold! I agree –I hate it when some of these brats strut in and waste my time. If we can cut that number of challengers in half, I'd still be happy."

Diantha sighed, but smiled slightly at her colleagues. "Very well. I will address the situation and our decision to the Kalos League Board."

With the meeting over, everyone was getting ready to leave. Siebold hesitated, wondering if maybe…Of all the people, he could trust these four, couldn't he? They were his friends and colleagues, and they'd known each other for a very long time…

"Would you all like to come over for dinner?" Siebold asked quietly. And then, hesitatingly, he added, "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

The other four exchanged looks, before Diantha turned to him.

"Of course, Siebold. I would love to."

And the others echoed their agreement, and he hoped that Ash would be okay meeting the others.

Started 12/25/14 – Completed 1/6/15


	7. Fiery Soul

In hindsight, Siebold wasn't sure that this was a good idea after all. He was sure of his colleagues; he trusted them and even considered them friends. But was  _Ash_  ready? Was she okay with meeting others? He hadn't considered the fact that Ash may not be so okay having strangers crowd her.

But they were already heading to his home, and he wasn't sure what he should do then. He couldn't warn Ash yet, but he could at least prepare his fellow Elite. Stopping before his home, feeling rather ominous at his villa's entrance, he turned to his confused friends.

"The person I want you all to meet is…a young girl named Ash," he hesitantly told them.

"A young girl?" Malva raised her eyebrows, before she grew a teasing smirk on her face. "Oh, don't tell me Prim Siebold likes little girls~"

He tossed her an irritable glare, and felt even more uneasy about what she said, considering he couldn't help remembering that Ash was a victim of trafficking and what she'd gone through. No matter how pretty and sweet she was, and how something in him might like her even a little like that…His first priority was to protect her and make her feel safe and secure.

"I found her around a week ago," Siebold continued on, ignoring Malva, who started to pout a little at being dismissed. "She was injured and was being held in her Charizard's arms. He too was injured…severely. She had a Pikachu with them. The three of them had escaped from traffickers and I took them in and helped them recover."

Malva's smirk died down quickly, while Drasna gasped and looked horrified, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Wikstrom flinched and looked at him with wide eyes, while Diantha's eyes clouded over in sadness and her face and body showed her tiredness.

"Please be cautious and mindful of your words and movements," Siebold quietly said. "She is not used to being around many people, or even others other than myself. I'm not sure this is such a good idea, but I hope to help her to interact with others again and maybe try to trust once more."

"Of course, Siebold," Drasna, always the sweetheart, stepped up to him and smiled gently. "You can count on us."

Still uncertain, Siebold stepped into his home and called out, his fellow elite trainers slowly coming in after him. He noted the smell of something good being cooked through his villa, and thought that Ash might've already started on dinner, if not already finished. He could hear the distant sounds of metal clanging, so she was at least finishing up cooking…

"Ash? I'm home! I've brought some friends I'd like you to meet, if you're okay with that," Siebold hesitantly added on.

The distant clanging stopped and all was silent, making Siebold regret this decision of his. Maybe she wasn't ready. Maybe he should have slowly introduced her to the idea, instead of springing this onto her.

"Ash? Ash, it's okay," he called out, starting to feel panic settle in as he hurried to the kitchen. His mind was so pestered with alarm, that he barely remembered the others and felt them follow him.

Siebold entered his kitchen, but found no sight of her. It made him tense up.

"Ash, remember I told you I was part of the Elite Four of the Kalos Region? The other three are here, as well as Diantha. Remember her? I've told you many things about her," Siebold began to even sound panicked. If she had ran away…

He heard the screech of a chair against the floor and his eyes were immediately drawn to his table, especially as he heard a whimper escape from the girl that was probably hiding underneath it. He took a step towards it, but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Diantha by his side and she smiled sadly. Despite not wanting to, he stayed where he was and let her walked to the table. She didn't go all the way to it, but stopped an arm's length away, to which she then shifted onto her knees and then laid flat on the floor. Diantha quickly saw the frightened girl and gave her a soft smile.

"Hello," she said gently. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Diantha," Ash muttered. "…I like your movies."

Diantha's smile widened. "Do you? That makes me really happy. Thank you." The movie actress moved a little closer. "I know Siebold told me what your name is, but can you tell me it? I'd like to hear your name from you, sweetie."

Ash watched her warily. "…Ash. My name is Ash," she mumbled.

"Well, Ash, were you cooking? It smells really good in here," Diantha continued, and saw Ash's eyes worriedly dart to the direction of the stove. "It would be a shame if whatever it was burned or became ruined somehow."

"That wouldn't be good," Ash frowned.

"Do you want to come out and show me whatever it is you were cooking? You can even show me how to help you finish it," Diantha moved just a little bit closer, and then slowly moved to sit on her knees.

Ash hesitated, before she nodded. Diantha's face softened into an affectionate, sweet (if a tad sad) look, and the Kalos Champion leaned forward and held out her hand.

"Come here, sweetheart. You'll be okay, I promise. Don't be afraid."

Ash swallowed nervously, but crawled forward and uncertainly grasped onto the soft hand reaching out to her. She peered up at Diantha from under her eyelashes.

"You're really pretty," Ash whispered shyly.

Diantha just smiled widely again, and gently placed her arm around Ash, pulling her up so they could stand and face the others. Ash still looked frightened and uncertain, but when she glanced at Siebold, he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Ash, I'd like you to meet Drasna, Malva, and Wikstrom," the blond pointed to each of his friends respectively.

Ash glanced at them nervously, but gave a shaky smile.

Malva took a step forward, drawing attention to herself. Quiet and a bit stoic, thus making Ash even more nervous while Siebold was ready to interfere if he needed to, Malva then grinned and gave a v-sign.

"Hey, sweetheart! Show me that grub, eh? I'm starving!"

Somehow, Ash found herself giggling a little, before covering her mouth in embarrassment, and her face turning red. But Malva just lifted up her rose-colored sunglasses and gave a wink.

As he watched Ash begin to start chattering to Diantha while she finished up the food she had been cooking, Siebold decided that this hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

* * *

"Today, I will teach you how to cook a tarte flambée," Siebold told Ash, who was listening eagerly. "It is an Alsatian bacon and onion tart," he explained. "It was invented from outside the Regions, in the Alsace area of France."

"Have you been to there?" Ash asked curiously.

Siebold gave a small smile. "A few times. It's lovely."

They then gathered up the ingredients for the tart, though Siebold allowed Ash to throw a few pieces of bacon to her Charizard and Pikachu. Maximus and Pikachu were basking outside, in his courtyard, and soaking in the sun. He caught Ash worriedly eying Maximus' wings though.

They were still heavily damaged, but had healed up a bit. They had been cleaned and then bandaged up, and Maximus was ordered to not use them in any way, and to leave them alone as much as possible. According to Nurse Joy, they were extremely damaged by the people who had done that to him, but while it may take a very long recovery process, his wings weren't incapable of healing and regaining their full strength.

But the sight of them, especially uncovered, was still a stark, horrific reminder of what they'd been through, so neither of the three could stand to focus on Maximus' wings for long.

"Hey, lovelies! I can smell something cooking in here," Malva's voice was heard by the entrance.

He saw Ash's face brightened, and was further encouraged by her deposition and the hope she was recovering as well. It also made him glad that he had indeed had the others meet Ash, and was also encouraged by her happier behavior that he'd made the right choice in deciding to have her meet them.

"In here, Malva!" Ash called out, and the pink-haired woman strutted into the kitchen, with Diantha quietly following.

Along with Malva and Diantha's frequent visits, Drasna liked bringing Ash with her to shop around the market or to meet her two grandchildren, while Wikstrom had taken to teaching Ash horse-riding or go to plays. It made him relieved to see Ash slowly becoming comfortable around the others and willing to go back into the world.

"What are you two cooking?" Diantha asked, trying to peer around them.

"A tarte flambée," Ash said cheerily. "Siebold says it's a bacon and onion tart. We just started though, so you won't be able to have any yet."

"Well, we can be patient," Malva gave a wicked grin that Ash giggled at. "How's the Mega Evo training going, Siebold?"

Siebold glanced at her idly, while Ash looked at him, wanting to know how she was doing in the Mega Evolution training as well. She thought it was doing good, but she wasn't an expert or anything…

"She's amazingly already managed to Mega Evolve Maximus into his Y form. I had Sycamore send over a Mega bracelet and whatever Charizardites he had available two weeks ago, and he thankfully had one of each. They're going with Y now, but I advised Ash to keep the Charizardite X on hand, in case they wanted to switch out."

Malva whistled. "Already? Two weeks into the real Mega Evolution training, getting the bracelet and stone, and the two of them managed that already?  _Nice_."

"We can't keep the form long or anything though," Ash said sheepishly.

Malva rolled her eyes, and ruffled the teen's hair. "Overachieving twerp. For the amount of time you two have just started on this type of hard training, it's amazing what you've managed to do so far. That must be some bond you and Maximus have."

It went without saying that what they had gone through together (for each other, at that) had a lot to do with their bond being so strong, aside from the fact their bond probably had already been amazingly close before that, what with the years Maximus spent as one of three of Ash's only real companions and Ash needing her Charizard's strength and loyal presence during that same time.

"You should perhaps have Ash help you out at your restaurant," Diantha suggested, watching Ash cook alongside Siebold efficiently. "She won't be stuck at your villa on the days you are off to work, and she could also continue to learn to cook from you."

Ash loved that idea, Siebold could tell. And to be honest, so did he.

The water trainer gave Ash a small smile. "That would be wonderful, if you'd like that."

Ash nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I'd be really happy, Siebold! Can I really come?"

"Of course," he said back, and reached out to softly pat her head.

He would be most reluctant when time came for her to return to her home in Kanto.

* * *

"Shit's weird," a gruff and tough-looking man muttered to his rival boss. He scratched at his chin, his beard scratching at his fingers back. "What the hell are the Rockets doing?"

"Like I would know, Archie," the red-headed man sitting opposite him sneered. "It's not like the Rockets have ever been easy to figure out, despite their usual status as 'just thieves.' And we all know that's a load of bull –the Rockets always have more up their sleeves and a bigger agenda."

"Psh," Archie grumbled. "Don't be a prick, Maxie. What if they turn their sights on the rest of us? Hell, you hear what the hell the Rockets have been  _doing_? Burning up bodies!  _Live_  bodies!"

Maxie grimaced, and unfortunately couldn't help drudging up an image with that short description.

"Don't remind me," he muttered. "But you forget, they're targeting –for some reason –those traffickers."

The two of them thought on that, and were both confused and uneasy at the recent actions of one of their rival Teams. It didn't make sense that Team Rocket was suddenly on a warpath against these human traffickers, when all of them had been content to ignore them and let them do their work, as long as they left the Teams to their own. Now, suddenly, Team Rocket was waging war and hunting down traffickers with a wrathful vengeance, and doing terrible things to them.

The Teams were capable of doing dark stuff, and killing hadn't been too harsh of an issue with any them, even if they preferred to keep away from that option…but Team Rocket was going overboard and practically going on a public murder spree. This was beyond what any of them usually did, and they didn't know what had set Team Rocket off, and if it would affect the other Teams as well.

If they had to go up against a murderous Team Rocket…

Team Rocket was dangerous on their own, even before all this. Now? They looked like they'd fucking lost their minds, and it was scaring and bothering the shit out of the rest of them.

"Maybe this got nothing to do with the rest of us," Archie grumbled. "Maybe…maybe it's just the traffickers. Maybe those dumbasses did something to piss off the Rockets, and that's why Team Rocket's gone after them."

"Well, it certainly is an extreme form of revenge," Maxie pursed his lips. "They must have  _truly_  done something exceptionally worthy of earning Team Rocket's ire to this extent."

"We'll just let it go, yeah?" Archie said, suddenly feeling nervous. "We'll keep out of it and let the Rockets after them asswipes. So long as they don't start targeting us, I guess I don't give a shit."

"So long as we're out of the firing range," Maxie agreed quietly, lifting up his glass of brandy.

Archie lifted up his bottle of beer, and the two of them exchanged wary looks.

They had a feeling that things were going to go horribly wrong, and Team Rocket would be spreading a campaign of blood until every single trafficker had been caught and killed.

That they might even get caught up in it, whether they wanted to or not.

* * *

Giovanni stared at the stuffed toy, remembering the day he'd given the Mew plush to the girl that was missing.

He thought that perhaps if he had never stopped checking in on her…maybe even personally approached her with communication…she wouldn't have run away and gotten mixed up in all this. If another voice had spoken up for her, to her…supported her dreams and allowed her to know that it would be okay to pursue her dreams, even if he had to fucking have every one of his agents trail after her and make sure she was safe on her journey…

But what ifs wouldn't help now. No, right now Giovanni had to continue on and find her. And if he couldn't find her…if he was too late…then he had to continue and find every one of those motherfuckers and burn their screaming, pathetic selves into burnt corpses.

"Sir?"

He looked up to see Archer worriedly watching him, though the blue-haired man had taken care to look as impassive as ever.

"What is it?' he scowled.

Archer straightened up. "I think you would be pleased to know that our agents in the Kalos Region has spotted the girl you've been looking forward. She's been seen in Lumoise City, particularly around Restaurant Le Yeah."

Giovanni stared at him, before standing up abruptly. He'd wanted to go straight to Kalos after he'd heard she was there, but his Executives had all convinced him to allow their Kalosian agents to look around first, so that their search wouldn't be impeded or found out by the traffickers in that area, and therefore end up moving her and once again losing knowledge of where Ash was.

But now he had concrete evidence she was alive and where she was.

"Settle my chopper," Giovanni ordered, grabbing his jacket. "I want to get there as soon as possible."

There was absolutely no way he was going to leave her behind and lose her again. He was going to go to her now, and find her.

And finally take Ash home.

* * *

When Malva had heard Siebold say he wanted them to meet someone, she'd been very curious. Siebold wasn't the type to be very social, even if he wasn't exactly a hermit. He was kind of one of those lone artists types, which was ironic as he likened his battling and cooking to art.

And when he mentioned it was a young girl, she'd gone for the kill and instantly began to tease him. She had been surprised by his tastes though, because she hadn't expected him to be seeking romance in someone so young (as it sounded like he'd implied), but it had been hard to tell what kind of romantic inclinations and preferences he'd had in the first place. Even after all these years working with him since the Kalos League started, and even becoming friends with him, Malva had never known or had seen Siebold to pursue any romantic interests.

But she'd quickly been shut down on all fronts as Siebold explained how he'd met the girl, and they all came to meet Ash Ketchum.

Malva had been uncomfortable once she'd learned that Ash had been a trafficking victim, and that she had unknowingly joked about her and the situation she was in, and accidentally mocking Siebold's heartfelt attempt to help the girl. She also, probably like the others, felt clumsy and unsure about the situation they were now stuck in, meeting Ash.

They, as with everyone else, had disregarded the trafficking threat and ignored it in favor of stopping the constant harassment from Team Flare, who was much more public with their actions than the traffickers. And she, in particular, was a Flare member who was set to do what she could to aid the Team and help reform this disgusting world into a beautiful paradise.

She was finding herself hypocritical in the face of a trafficking victim in her face.

Malva had instantly liked the girl and grown attached. But the more time and the more attached she got, the more the feelings she originally felt at meeting Ash began to bother her.

She was part of Team Flare to help destroy the ugliness of the world. Ash's predicament and the girl herself showed Malva and proved the world was an ugly place, but also showed how hypocritical she and the Team were. Because none of them, not even she and Team Flare, had done a thing to stop the traffickers, barely showing them any attention or doing a thing against them.

Team Flare declared that they would erase all the ugliness of the world, but disregarded the most ugliest, blackened spot in the world in the form of these traffickers.

And the more Malva got to know Ash and grew more fond of her, the more upset and disgusted she felt at herself and her Team for their inadequacy in removing such a blight in the world, when they had claimed that they would.

Paradise was probably just as ugly as the world they currently lived in.

"You look bothered," her boss commented, and she looked up from her notepad to see the smartly dressed Lysandre watching her closely.

"I am bothered," she scowled, feeling frustrated and angry.

She wanted to lash out, do something to blow off steam. Maybe she should demand a match with the Flare scientists, maul them all in a battle or something.

"About what, Malva? Something in the meeting bothered you? Or was Xerosic's presence just irritating you, like always?" Lysandre teased her.

She looked at him irritably. "Why don't we do anything about those traffickers?" she suddenly said in a fit of anger.

He looked at her in surprise, before schooling his face into his normal, charming look.

"Do something about them? They'll be taken cared of, along with the rest of the world. It'll be soon after all, when we will have the power to strike all the ugliness of the world in a blow," Lysandre smoothly said.

But Malva wasn't hearing it. Lysandre continued though, this time with a hesitant look on his face.

"Besides…the Rockets seem to be doing a… _fine_  job targeting those cretins," Lysandre twitched slightly.

"Then maybe I should go off and join Team Rocket," Malva said bitterly, glaring down at the table top.

"Malva! What on earth is going on with you?" Lysandre asked, taken aback by her vicious attitude.

Malva threw her notepad down and resisted the urge to clamp her hands over her face.

"There's this girl…"

And Malva was explaining quietly to her boss about meeting Ash, who she was, and what had happened to her in her captivity, as Siebold had secretly told her and the other Elites one time when Ash had been sleeping.

Though he quickly pushed his face to normal, Malva had been even quicker to catch the horrified look before it disappeared and Lysandre looked seemingly unaffected.

"Tell me…is there any way for me to meet this girl?"

Malva hadn't exactly expected that response though.

Started 4/3/15 – Completed 4/6/15


	8. I'd Love to Change the World, But...

The meeting for the top Team Flare members, as well as her small talk with Lysandre, hadn't gone on too long. It had started around 6 and then ran into evening around 8-ish. From there, she debated with herself until she snuck over to Siebold's home. Lights were off, but she wasn't too concerned with that. She knew that it was an early day tomorrow for Siebold, so tonight he would go to sleep early. Ash liked to go to sleep at the same time, so she might be sleeping, but…

She found Ash's room from the outside, and rapped her knuckles against the glass panes of the window sharply. She heard a muffled sound from inside, before she saw Ash at the window. Grinning, Malva waved cheerily and pointed to the window. Ash only hesitated a moment, before she opened the window and Malva could talk to her better.

"Hey, you not sleeping yet?"

Ash shook her head, offering a small grin. "I was just grooming Pikachu. I can't sleep anyway."

Malva's grin widened. "Wanna sneak out and come with me somewhere?"

She hadn't expected Ash to shy away at that moment, looking at Malva warily. The usually cheery girl (though Malva suspected Ash had used to be more outgoing and happy than she was now) was suddenly looking at Malva like she was a Seviper that was going to bite her.

Malva's grin faltered and softened to a more reassuring smile.

"I won't hurt you and I won't let anyone hurt you," Malva silently promised to it. "Come on, Ash. You know me. It'll be fun! Maybe reckless, but you know I'm a crazy, reckless person," she winked at the girl.

Ash smiled a little, and Malva claimed that as a small victory for herself. She slowly reached out a hand to her, and Ash stared at it before looking at Malva.

"Where are we going?" she whispered.

Malva hid her flinch. "It's…a secret," she reluctantly said, hoping it wouldn't set Ash back.

Ash frowned, but then surprised Malva by carefully getting out of her window and then she was next to the older woman. Pikachu jumped out of the window and landed onto Ash's head, almost slipping off before he scrambled on to a more secure position.

"Okay," Ash still sounded hesitant. "Lead the way."

So Malva grabbed Ash's hand and tried to play up the playfulness to help Ash worry less. Outside of Siebold's villa, she had to hail down a cab before they were then moving away from Siebold's home and to Café Soleil.

"Let's have some ice cream sundaes first," Malva decided, thinking that maybe that would help loosen Ash up.

This was looking suspicious and she didn't want to upset Ash or make her afraid of her, even if for a second. Unfortunately, Lysandre was already in the café and at a table of his own, near the café's entrance and in front of the large window.

Malva gently directed Ash towards Lysandre's direction, feeling the girl stiffened up under her hands.

"Ash, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine and who you might recognize. Or at least his name. This is Lysandre from Lysandre Labs? He owns and created that company," Malva stopped right in front of her boss.

Lysandre gave a friendly smile, holding out his hand. Ash flinched at the movement. Though Lysandre noticed, he said nothing and didn't move his hand away, keeping it there until Ash eventually uncertainly reached out and shook it quickly, before snatching her hand back.

"It's nice to meet you, Ash," Lysandre said solemnly. "Malva's told me a lot about you."

But Malva, with a sinking feeling, noticed that Ash was starting to breathe heavily, was nervously glancing all over the café and repeatedly towards the café's entrance/exit the most, and was starting to ring her hands.

"Do you like pokémon?" Lysandre asked, hoping to break the ice.

Unfortunately, that made Ash remember that time with the man with the Vulpix.

" _You want to come over and pet Vulpix? She's shy, but she likes attention. Little girls like cute things, don't they?"_

Ash clamped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "No, no, no."

She started to feel faint, before she froze at feeling a gentle paw tapping her forehead and a slight nudging at her knee. Opening her eyes, she realized that Pikachu was the one who'd tapped her forehead, and a lion-ish pokémon was curiously by her feet and rubbing its head against her knee.

Seeing her calming down brought relief to the other two watching, glad that the panic/anxiety attack seemed to have been avoided.

"That's Pyroar. I look like him, don't I?" Lysandre spoke, grinning slightly.

Ash giggled as she glanced between the pokémon and he. She nodded her head shyly.

In the meantime, Malva had gone to order the ice cream sundaes and when she came back, Lysandre was regaling Ash with tales of the Kalos Region's legends. At least he wasn't mentioning the weapon they were trying to rebuild from those old legends, otherwise Malva might have been grumbling…

Soon enough the ice cream sundaes came and while Ash and she ate, Lysandre began to speak of his hopes to transform the world into a beautiful paradise. Malva wasn't sure if she should interject, because it wasn't like they were recruiting Ash. She wasn't really the type to fit into a Team…Ash was much too kind and sweet for such groups.

Ash nodded though, looking far more older than she was and wiser than she should be.

"It sounds nice," she said wistfully. "But I don't think you can," she said, surprisingly rather cynically. "Someone told me once that the world was an ugly place and I shouldn't be so trusting."

The two of them were taken aback by that, and that it sounded like she really believed that.

"I didn't listen to what he said as much as I should have," Ash told them seriously. "I should've listened."

Malva felt a part of her rage at the world at that, because someone like Ash deserved to be happy and be ignorant and sweet forever. She shouldn't become so jaded at all, much less at such a young age. And mostly, Malva raged at herself and her Team, because they were all such failures.

A beautiful paradise…

She scoffed inwardly and thought that she and her Team were nothing but hypocrites, and that the world would never be a paradise, if even Ash couldn't see it so.

"Then I will have to work harder for you, don't I?" Lysandre cut in, wearing a grim smile. "I will make a beautiful paradise that you can live in, Ash. You'll see."

Malva still hoped to see, but she could see that Ash didn't.

* * *

It had been a close thing, but Ash had agreed to coming with them.

"You see, Ash, I must admit to something," Lysandre said dramatically, playing it up to amuse the girl. "I…am Team Flare's leader."

He could see that Malva hadn't expected him to plainly admit to that. But already, in the enclosed confines of the car they were riding in, he could see how skittish Ash was already becoming. She was beginning to think he was going to kidnap or sell her again, or something of the sort. It was in her best interest to try to clear that up, even though it would bring into light his actual occupation.

But he also despised and felt disgusted at being associated with those lowly people, if they could be called as such.

He didn't want her to think of him in such a way. He truly wanted, no matter the extremes he had to go to, to create a beautiful world. But this world was truly ugly, as she had said, and he wanted her to believe in him and his goals.

He slowly reached out and took her hand, looking her seriously in the eyes.

"I  _will_  create a beautiful world for you to live in, Ash. The world, yet, will be paradise. Just wait for me," he promised.

She frowned and stayed quiet, but there was a spark of hope that actually lit up and was barely seen in Ash's eyes.

That was the best he could hope for, and he was determined that he would prove to her that Team Flare will change the world into his vision.

* * *

Ash was not as worried as she probably should be, about being around a boss of one of those Teams. It was ironic and almost funny, because everyone was always warning her about them.

She was less scared of him than she was of those people who took her and kept her captive, and did all those things to her and the others that had been taken with her.

The base she was in, after having entered it through the red café that they had gone to, was large and was also Lysandre Labs, according to Malva. Lysandre had to deal with something quickly, having been called away for an emergency, so the female Elite was showing her around. They'd even stop by one of the uniform rooms and dressed Ash in one of the uniforms.

Malva grinned widely. "There! You are  _unofficially_  a Team Flare member! You look cute."

Ash giggled and let Malva pull her closer, taking a picture with her. After a few more pictures, Ash was led around some more and eventually they ended up in someone's lab. She saw Malva sneer.

"This is Xerosic's lab. He's one of Flare's top scientists, who equate as high-level Admin from the other Teams. I don't like him," Malva said with a scowl.

She didn't elaborate on why, but Ash didn't push either. After that, Malva continued to show her the rest of the place, until she was also called away for something and Ash had been left alone in a conference room until she was to come back.

It wasn't too long until the door opened and a strange man entered. Ash tensed up and watched him warily, just as he looked at her in surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked curiously.

"I'm Ash," she said hesitantly.

"I'm Xerosic, the best of Team Flare's scientists!" he boasted arrogantly, tossing back a rather cheesy 'villain' laugh. Whether it was on purpose or not, it made Ash smile and giggle quietly. "I don't think you're supposed to be here, little girl."

Ash scrunched up her nose. "I'm not little. And Malva put me in here and told me to wait, so I'm going to wait."

"Malva?" his eyebrows raised. "Huh. Well, there's supposed to be a meeting in here soon, so I guess I'll wait with you."

He strode over while adjusting his red goggles and sat down in a seat next to Ash, dropping his folders and papers onto the table in front of him. He then pulled out a piece of paper that had a bunch of squares that were smaller boxes inside and numbers in some of them.

Ash blinked. "What are you doing?"

"It is called Sudoku!" he nodded to himself as he filled in some numbers in one square. "It is very addictive," he admitted to her.

Somehow or other, Ash had gotten roped up in helping him, and soon they started finishing the Sudoku problems he'd brought with him. And then they'd moved onto tic-tac-toe, and then SOS. By the time Malva came back, they'd gotten into Hangman and the pinkette had noticed the myriad of papers around the two (and recognizing the games they'd obviously played on them –some of those papers looked rather important too…).

"Xerosic! There you are," she snapped at the man. "What are you doing here?'

She eyed Ash closely, making sure she was okay, unharmed, and not upset or frightened in any way.

"Waiting for the meeting," he replied in exasperation. "In the meantime, this young lady and I have been engaged in several contests of intelligence."

Malva inwardly snorted. If he called playing games 'contests of intelligence'…

"Idiot! The meeting is over. It was next door. You missed it," she glared at him through her sunglasses.

Ugh, he was so irritating.

Xerosic huffed in irritation, glaring back. However, she heard Ash giggling and softened a little. Not outwardly though! But still, it was good to see her happy and relaxed, even if it was because of this dumbass.

"Ash, come on. I've got to take you back before Siebold's up and finds you missing," Malva pouted a little.

Ash got up and headed over to her, before turning and waving at Xerosic. "Bye! Hope to see you next time!"

"Goodbye, young Ash! Next time, I will make sure to up my score!"

Malva sneered, but it lost its effect as Ash giggled again.

* * *

On their way back to Siebold's home, they started talking about pokémon, which led to gyms. Malva was curious (and slightly apprehensive) on what Ash felt about taking a pokémon journey. She didn't know if she wanted the girl to, or if she just wanted Ash to be safe and secure somewhere and never go back out into the world. Not after what she'd gone through.

"Siebold actually took me to meet Clemont the other day," Ash told her brightly. "He's nice and not too much older than me! And he has a cute younger sister named Bonnie."

"Did Siebold? That's nice," Malva noted, though she did still want to meet the gym leader in person now. The Elite Four, in any region, didn't tend to interact much with the gym leaders of their own region, much less of the others.

"Uh huh," Ash bobbed her head. "Plus, he let me battle with him with Maximus and Pikachu! I won and got a badge."

That stopped Malva in her tracks and she slightly stared at Ash, who stopped as well and looked back curiously. She knew that Maximus had to be strong already, given he was in his last evolution stage, had been ready and been training for Mega Evolution, and had also been previously owned and trained by someone else before he'd been given to Ash. And she also knew Pikachu was a wily one, headstrong like his trainer, and oddly extremely powerful for his species. But still…

Lumiose City tended to be the fifth gym for Kalos trainers to go to, for that region's traditional order. It wasn't an easy gym for beginner trainers to hit at their first go. But being Ash's first gym and first real professional match and having won, it was rather impressive.

But Malva shouldn't be so surprised. She, Diantha, and Siebold (even longer than they) had been training and battling against Ash for some time, as well as preparing and then working through the Mega Evolution process with her and Maximus. And if there was a Mega Evolution for Pikachu, unevolved as he was, then she would bet all her damn marbles that freak of nature would have been just as ready to Mega Evolve as the Charizard.

The bond and power between these three was amazing.

Although… "You've registered with the Kalos League already then? I hadn't known that."

Ash shrugged. "Not really. Siebold said that Professor Sycamore's going to register me himself today, and then hand me my badge case and pokédex too. I was really excited! That's why I wasn't asleep last night when you visited me."

"I'm excited for you," she said sincerely, though she still wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of Ash traveling by herself. "But wouldn't you be afraid to…you know…travel around the region, after what you had to go through?"

None of them were really comfortable talking or even just mentioning the traffickers and Ash's situation, and they were doubly uncertain about it around Ash herself.

Ash gave her a grim smile. "Don't worry, Malva. I want to do this. I  _need_  to do this."

It frightened Malva a bit, not knowing or understanding Ash about this.

* * *

Ash and Siebold were in Professor Sycamore's lab, and she was in awe. The place was huge, with high ceilings and three different floors. The foyer itself had been large and amazing by itself, but combined it with the rest of the facility, it was massive and extravagant.

The professor himself was a handsome man, probably in his late twenties, and had a bit of stubble on his face. He smiled widely at them and held out his hand.

"Augustine Sycamore! It's nice to finally meet you, Ash," he greeted her enthusiastically. "Siebold's told me plenty about you, especially about the impressive progress you've already gone through with Mega Evolution. I hope you don't mind if I get to see your Charizard Mega Evolve? I don't know if Siebold's told you, but the bulk of my research deals with Mega Evolution."

Ash beamed at him. "Sure, Professor Sycamore! And it's nice to meet you too."

Sycamore's smile widened even further. "Oh! You're rather precious,  _ma bichette_. Come, follow me. I have your things in my main lab, where you can also show me Charizard's Mega Evolution."

They followed after the professor, with Ash bemused at yet another nickname she'd picked up. Siebold tended to call her his  _petite colombe_ , which means 'little dove,' and thanks to his tutoring she knew a little bit of the local language enough to know the professor had called her 'his little doe.'

It was kind of funny, especially when she remembered that Giovanni used to call her 'little blackbird' a lot back then too.

Once in the lab, Sycamore handed her her badge case and then her pokédex, explaining some things. He also offered her one of the Kalos starter pokémon, but she already had Pikachu and Maximus and didn't think it'd be fair to take another pokémon. She thought it would be better if she caught the rest of them on her own.

Then it was time for her to bring out Maximus and show his Mega Evolution, but as she called him out of his pokéball, she looked at his wings sadly. They were much better now, but they weren't completely healed and were still not fully functional.

"Oh, his wings," Sycamore sighed, moving closer and gently reaching his hand out. Maximus watched him warily, but a glance at Ash made the large pokémon keep still. "They were badly damaged, I see. I think there might be something I can do for him, but it would require he stay here for a while."

But if he could do something, anything, for Maximus, then of course Ash would be okay with that.

"Would it really help him?" Ash asked anxiously.

Sycamore nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Indeed. I am more than sure that within this week, I could get his wings completely healed and back to normal,  _ma bichette_."

Ash squealed in excitement, rushing to give him a hug and then going over to tightly embrace Maximus next.

"You hear that, Maximus? You'll be able to fly again soon!"

Maximus let out a loud, triumphant roar to echo her joy.

* * *

"Ugh, Pikachu, that has to be unhealthy," Ash scrunched up her nose.

Though Siebold had similar sentiments, he said nothing (though he did make a small facial twitch that belied his disgruntlement). But when one Pikachu binged on ketchup, a person is sure to be grossed out.

"Pika," the mouse pokémon groused, ignoring them as he went back to his ketchup bottle.

Ash shook her head in amusement, though she became delighted at the presence of Diantha and Malva at the restaurant. Though she and Siebold were going to cook, she was always happy to receive visitors like those two.

"Someone's happy~" Malva sing-songed, though she had a knowing glint to her eyes.

Ash grinned and showed off her pokédex and badge case (with the Voltage Badge already settled in its spot).

"I'm officially registered for the Kalos League!" she told them in excitement, though since Siebold had helped her and was with her when she received everything and she'd told Malva last night, only Diantha was the one who was really finding out for the first time.

The graceful beauty hugged her. "That's fantastic, Ash. I look forward to you getting all your badges and facing us in official battles!"

Ash's face turned red. "W-well, it's not a guarantee I'll be able to make it all the way to face you guys for real."

Malva snorted loudly and started laughing. "Yeah right! I'll resign my post as an Elite if that ever happens. Trust me, Ash, you are one of the better trainers out there, and you've only just started."

Flattered and embarrassed, Ash just smiled shyly and focused on cooking.

"Why would you want to go on a journey?" Malva brought up again, not that the others knew she was.

Ash embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head. "Well, part of the reason is 'cause I want to be able to be an equal to Giovanni. He's an amazing pokémon trainer and is the best! Plus, he went on his own journey and he's the one who gave me Maximus. It's part of the list I have."

Though they traded bemused looks and wondered who this Giovanni was, Ash's enthusiasm and cheer was great to see.

"And what list is that?" Malva asked dryly.

"It's the list of all the things I want to do in life!" Ash told them. "It's like a bucket list. Being an equal to Giovanni is also on there, along with that I'm gonna marry him when I'm older! Just a few more years, since I'm still too young right now."

They traded looks again.

"Who  _is_  this Giovanni?" Diantha asked in amusement.

Then Ash told them how she met him and how he'd saved her from a man with a Vulpix when she was younger (they all shared and hid their flinches at that, though Malva now understood the significance of Ash's reaction to Lysandre's attempt to be friendly using Pyroar), and that he'd watched over her the next day. That was when he gave her a Mew plush that also had Maximus' pokéball hidden inside and she'd promised to him she was going to marry him when she was older, right before she left him.

It was as sweet as it was hopeless. It was years ago and it seemed like Ash hadn't seen the man since they met all that time ago, so who knows where he was now.

Ah well. They could indulge her.

* * *

Ash was just taking out the garbage back in the alley behind the restaurant, when at the entrance of the alley she saw a familiar girl walking passed in the street.

"Serena?" she called out.

The girl looked confused, looking around before catching sight of Ash. Her blue eyes widened.

"A-Ash?"

Ash grinned widely. "It is you, Serena! And yes! It's me, Ash Ketchum! I can't believe you still remember me."

Serena's face also broke out into a grin, and the other girl rushed towards Ash.

"Of course I remember you," Serena said sincerely. "You saved me and helped me out all that time. I never forgot."

Ecstatic at having met each other again, the two chatted for a while, until Ash realized she'd forgotten what she had been doing and the time. Which led to Siebold going out and checking up on her, and finding the two of them together.

"Siebold! This is Serena," Ash excitedly introduced him to her old friend. "I met her a long time ago when we were both kids and in Professor Oak's summer camp. I can't believe we got to run into each other like this!"

"It's nice to meet you, Serena," Siebold gave a polite smile. "Ash, why don't you wash up inside, so you can hang out with your friend? In fact, the two of you can come inside the restaurant and share a dessert, if you'd like?"

Both girls agreed eagerly, and after Ash had washed off, the two of them sat in the finally empty restaurant and got the place all to themselves, since it was closed. As they were chatting and sharing a fruit salad, Siebold came back out with a delicious cake, accompanied by Diantha, Wiktsrom, Drasna, and Malva.

"Happy Birthday, Ash!" the five of them echoed.

Ash was surprised. She hadn't realized the date or the fact it had been around a year since she had been taken from Kanto.

"I believe you are 15 now, yes?" Siebold smiled softly, placing the cake on the table. "So blow out the candles and make a wish."

Ash counted 15 candles all lit up just for her, and she closed her eyes and made a wish, before blowing out the candles.

Cake was cut and passed around, and Ash and Serena shared how they met to the others, before talking about various stories of their time in the summer camp together. Serena realized the time sometime later, and knew she had to leave to meet her mother.

"My mom works at Hotel Richissime," Serena explained. "She should be getting off right now, and I should meet her."

"I can walk you there," Ash offered. "I know some shortcuts by now, so I can cut you the time."

The others were a little worried and wary of letting Ash go by herself, but she wanted to spend some more time with her friend and catch up. And the luxury hotel wasn't too far…

"I'll be back!" Ash called out, and they watched her leave with Serena, feeling something off.

They'd made it to the hotel soon enough, and Ash and Serena had just traded off numbers and a promise to meet again tomorrow. But then a van came screeching out of nowhere, tires squealing on the road as it drove crazily just passed them. It stopped, and masked men jumped out of the van, pushing Serena roughly onto the floor and grabbing Ash.

Ash was tossed into the back of the van, and the men climbed in after her. The last thing she glimpsed was Serena's horrified face, before the van's back doors were slammed shut. Duct tape was put onto her mouth and then her head was being covered by something. Next, they tightly wrapped duct tape around her wrists and her ankles, and she knew she was immobilized and unable to scream for help.

"We should have grabbed the other girl too," she heard one of the men grumble.

"No, Ro would have been upset with us," she heard another man reply. "'Man of his word and shit.'"

"Tch."

Ash couldn't believe this was happening. It couldn't be. It just…she couldn't go back! She couldn't!

And now she didn't even have Pikachu or Maximus with her, or to follow her and get out like last time.

Started 4/30/15 – Completed 5/7/15


	9. ...I Don't Know What to Do

Giovanni was agitated. His flight was halted because there was trouble with the League and he was needed. An emergency meeting was being called and all League members, gym leaders and the Elite Four included, were demanded to head to the Pokémon League HQ. And since Giovanni was on the Board itself, along with being a gym leader, there was no way for him to be excused.

Especially not with the man they'd sent to tell him and escort him there.

"I really don't appreciate this, Wataru," Giovanni sneered at the Elite. "I have other business to attend to. Things much more  _important_  than whatever squabble the League has come up with now."

Lance Wataru of the Elite Four looked as tired as he sounded. "There's no exceptions, Giovanni. Every member must be present, and I think your voice is definitely wanted. It sounds like they're in need of something important from you."

Giovanni subtly clenched his hands. He didn't have time for this. Ash was in Kalos and he had to retrieve her. But he couldn't just ditch this man, who could find out much more than he should. Team Rocket's exposure was definitely a no, especially since it would tie his hands and his resources (especially regarding towards helping Ash) would be limited. He didn't have time to mess about in prison either.

"Sir, excuse my intrusion," he heard Archer from behind him, and he looked to see his second in command dressed in normal clothes and patiently awaiting his address. He nodded towards Lance and walked closer to Archer.

"Giovanni, I can go ahead and head to Kalos in the meantime, while you sort this out," Archer offered. "I will get to her and keep her in custody, and then when you're finished, you can head over there. Or if you wish, I could bring her here already."

"Bring her here," Giovanni ordered. "The faster she gets to be by my side and in a secure location, the safer she will be."

"I understand, sir. I will have it done," Archer dismissed himself, off to quickly do as was expected of him.

Giovanni turned back to Lance in aggravation. "Alright, let's go then. I might as well head out and try to get this annoyance out of the way as soon as possible."

By Arceus, if this was some stupid thing that wasn't really all that important, he would definitely be causing a scene and ripping everyone a new one. Right after he came back from ditching them and rushing over to get to Ash.

The ride to Pokémon League Village, where the Pokémon League Headquarters was located, wasn't too far away from Viridian City, and they were taking Giovanni's helicopter anyway. It was only lucky that Lance had managed to catch Giovanni in his gym, rather than Giovanni having been sequestered away in Team Rocket's Headquarters. As soon as they set down, Giovanni was quick to get off and brushed passed Lance, heading straight for the entrance into the League Headquarters from the building's landing platform area. From there, his strides were fast as he headed to where the meetings were usually held. Once he'd entered, some eyes darted to him, with his entrance catching a few by surprise. Moments later, Lance entered from behind him.

Scowling, Giovanni went to his seat and waited for it to start. Not too long after, the Kanto Elite stood at the front, along with the Board representative. Of course Giovanni would be the only other one from the Board present…

Lance took a step forward, and brought the attention onto him. He glanced around the room solemnly, for once capturing Giovanni's interest.

"This meeting is being broadcasted towards all the regions, with their respective charter of the League Board ending with the same conclusion that will be discussed from in here," he announced, further peaking Giovanni's interest and inciting quiet murmurs from the rest.

"The other charters are currently also gathered in their own region, and listening in to this meeting. Whatever is said by everyone in this room, the final decision will be an interregional agreement. The other members in their own region can voice their own opinion of the matter, but the seniority of the Kanto charter and its precedence in the Pokémon League makes this charter contain final say. Does everyone understand that and now understand the graveness and importance of this meeting?" he looked around.

At everyone's quiet nod, Lance turned towards the side, where five people sat at desks with machines. One by one, they pressed a button, and an agreement came from the speaker that spoke out a region's Champion's voice (who spoke for their respective groups).

Lance took a deep breath. "As everyone knows, Team Rocket has been actively changing their  _modus operandi_ , no longer concocting their regular schemes. In fact, they've been actively  _hunting_ these human trafficker groups. This meeting is to address that issue."

At everyone breaking out into more muttering, Giovanni stiffened up. However, he didn't reveal anything else, only continuing to look like he was listening intently.

"Aside from Team Rocket and their unusual change of behavior –and of course their extreme methods that have become alarming to all –the point of this meeting, actually, is about the fact they've highlighted and brought out the issue of the human traffickers," Lorelei stepped in, the ice mistress of the Elite Four looking concerned for once. "It hadn't been an issue before, mostly because no one had really deigned to give it much attention."

"But now that Team Rocket, a notorious group that usually focused on pokémon matters, had switched their focus –they've put the spotlight on the issue and shown to all about the matter," Bruno's voice rumbled uneasily.

A League worker began passing out slim folders to everyone there, and some were just about to open them up when Lance stopped them. This made Giovanni even more curious, especially with the meeting's subject.

"These folders have also been distributed in the other regions," Lance informed them all. "I warn everyone now that inside these folders contain very graphic photos and information. If you do not wish to look into them, that is fine. We will be discussing the contents and you will have no need to look at the contents personally. However, they've been provided with the goal for everyone to truly see the gruesome impact these traffickers have had."

Lance cleared his throat and looked tiredly over the group of gym leaders before him. The other members of the League in Kanto were situated in other rooms, also listening in.

"What's been said in the media, particularly by Miriam Hall, is true. Through every region, there has been a distinct lack of care about these traffickers and involvement with stopping them," which prompted everyone to look at each other, though Giovanni narrowed his gaze at Lance.

"Over the past year, I've personally been involved in trying to find these people and put a stop to their crimes," Lance revealed. "There have been many despicable things I've seen and wished I hadn't. If you open your folders now, you will see the first body I came across, of a 14 year old teenage girl."

There were many hesitant people at the table, before most of them did. Erika obviously couldn't, barely able to even touch the folder with her trembling hands. Neither did Sabrina, but she already looked grim-faced and probably had read it off of Lance's loudly troubled mind. There were cries of disgust and dismay all throughout the room, while Lt. Surge cursed.

Giovanni didn't bother to look at it. He'd already seen it and all the other evidence a long time ago. But remembering it was a 14 year old girl brought up thoughts of Ash and made him inwardly shiver, trying not to connect the two.

Ash would've been 15 by now, wouldn't she…14 when she'd left…

That made him frown to himself. She probably had her birthday in captivity. That wouldn't do. As soon as she got back, he would have to give a real celebration.

"But what can we do?" he heard Misty ask as he tuned back into the meeting. "This isn't really something the League can deal with. It's more of a matter for the police, and even yourself Lance, as a G-man. There isn't really anything the rest of us can do."

Lance frowned as there were murmurs of agreement from the rest of the room, minus a few people. He was going to speak up, when Giovanni started to slowly clap. Everyone quieted down and looked at him. Misty looked confused, though Lance started to feel irritated that Giovanni seemed to be taking this all as a joke. However, the man's next words made him halt his thoughts.

"Nothing to do with us, yes? What about if one day a trafficker manages to snatch you right off the very streets of your home city? Or more importantly, one of your  _sisters_?" he drawled, and Misty reeled back in horror.

Lance watched the Viridian native contemplatively, and allowed the other to speak and even take control of the meeting.

Giovanni stood up, grabbed his folder, and flipped through it as he walked around the room. At halfway, he tossed it onto the meeting table and its contents scattered about, horrific photos lying about clearly, along with pages of in depth information no one wanted to read. Those who hadn't wanted to see the photos at all were subjected to them, and gasped aloud. Erika let out a quiet sob.

"So…these people, with families of their own…most of these  _victims_  are children who'll never come back home…they're none of our business? We encourage everyone to go on their pokémon journeys, hold ourselves to the highest esteem and that all look to as role models. And yet here are some of the people that show just how undeserving we are of all that, and even how responsible we partly can be about this. When children want to go on pokémon journeys, they don't think about the dangers and they go out believing everything will be fine and they are safe. We all know that is not true, especially now," his dark eyes rove over the entire group.

Lance, along with the others, were surprised at Giovanni's stance about this whole issue, as much as they were about the way he was speaking to them now and what he was saying. He, of all people, was one they thought would be indifferent overall, and be the one to say it wasn't any of their business. Yet here he was, being the one lecturing them. And Lance was thankful, since it seemed Giovanni was able to get through to all of them, more so than Lance had.

Giovanni slipped a hand into his jacket, taking out the picture of Ash that he had. He held it up for everyone to see.

"This is Ash Ketchum, a friend of mine," he announced. "She is also Professor Oak's surrogate daughter. She has been missing for at least a year, taken by these  _traffickers_  in Saffron City," he leveled a look at Sabrina, who didn't look away but did frown.

He looked over the room with a dark look. "I  _will_ find her, even if I have to smoke out these traffickers and burn my way through them," he barely held back a snarl.

And hell, he probably more than revealed his hand with that statement, but it wasn't like those in this group hadn't had an inkling of his occupation as the Rocket Boss. He'd hinted and allowed it through the years, simply because the rest of the world wouldn't know, and because he never had evidence to link him to the group. It had been an amusing way to lord it over everyone.

But now he was very serious and very angry, and more than anything, he was ready to lash out at everyone that stood in his way.

The other regions listening may just think he was being scarily serious, but those in this room –having had suspicions –they can get their damn confirmations. He'd almost say this was a waste of time, since he was already taking care of things on his end, if flushing out and punishing those traffickers completely wasn't on his agenda.

"The age may have been upped to 18, but if it's 10 or 21, everyone is vulnerable," Giovanni scowled. "These sorry excuses for human beings want  _merchandise_. And humans are their merchandise. Therefore having those vulnerable to these people, especially if they're out on pokémon journeys, are definitely our concern."

He was stared at, and he was sure that the others in the other regions were surely silent in their own rooms. But he was all business, and he had no qualms culling their naïve outlooks and indifferent opinions with horrifying cold facts and threats.

Lance stared wide-eyed at the man, heart racing and palms starting to sweat. Years…years of him suspecting the other of being the boss of Team Rocket, of becoming frustrated time and again at his failure to catch the other and put him to justice…and here the man had practically implied it. It was, even just a rumor, a known 'fact' that the Rocket Boss had been present and had initiated the immolation of the traffickers caught and found in Vermilion City. Giovanni's words were almost an outright admission to being the boss and to really having done that to those people.

And yet, for the first time ever, he had no urge to send him to prison.

"What do you propose we do then?" Koga spoke up quietly.

"We need to be stricter, find a way to get them all out in the open. In Viridian City, as well as Pallet Town, there's an indefinite curfew in effect," Giovanni exposed. "The authorities are authorized to use force on those they've identified as traffickers, and to bring them in. Lethal if needed, but I prefer it," his dark smile made the others have no illusions about that, or of who he was for sure now.

"I've put in a proposal to our local government, and though I don't have an indication of the other regions or how likely they are to follow our lead, but martial law could very well come into effect," Giovanni divulged to the group.

That caused an eruption of shocked and worried statements and questions from the people in the room. Giovanni frowned and fished out his phone from his pocket, then searching for the recording. He played it and the room silenced at once, hearing the tortured screams coming from the device.

"Be lucky you didn't see the video," Giovanni spat out, glaring at them. "Next time, think about maybe giving up a few things in order to keep a 5 year old kid from being dissected and beheaded. And that's just the short version of what they did to him."

Giovanni stormed out of the room, hearing Lance call a break to the meeting just as he turned into the hallway. The first chance he could, he'll make a break for it. He'll pretend to stick around at break, and hightail it when everyone was distracted going back into the meeting room…

"Giovanni! Wait," he turned and saw Lt. Surge jogging over to him. The blond offered a mild grin, but a glimpse under the man's sunglasses showed a steely gaze. "So, I know you found that group in my city…"

Giovanni nodded. Surge was one of three of the gym leaders who'd known for a long while who he was, and was practically an honorary member of Team Rocket anyway.

Surge gave a sneering version of his grin. "I ain't happy about what's happened, and what's been happening in my city under my watch. If you have any info,  _anything_ …I promise you those son of bitches won't be making it out of my city."

Giovanni had let the other know who he was, precisely because of how like-minded and how inclined the other was to his ways.

"Of course," Giovanni answered smoothly. "I'll get you that information promptly. Though if you excuse me…" he spotted the weary and strained-looking Oak standing near the doors of the break room.

He had a professor to inform of one missing girl's location.

* * *

"Oh damn," Malva muttered. She and the other Kalos Elite, with Diantha, had sequestered themselves in a corner of their own building's breakroom, staying away from the others. "That was crazy, wasn't it? That Giovanni's intense."

"And given his words, he knows Ash.  _Our_ Ash," Wikstrom murmured. "The very same one in Siebold's home."

"And that he's  _that_ Giovanni," Malva said wryly. "The very same one Ash talked about saving her and all, and wanting to marry. Guess he didn't forget about her either, and has been searching for her since she went missing."

"Siebold, is everything alright?" Diantha asked worriedly, seeing the usually composed man looking contrite and using his phone.

"I'm trying to call Ash," Siebold told them unhappily. "She's not answering. Actually, this meeting was urgent and forced me to leave right away this morning, so I didn't even get to say goodbye to her. But…I don't even know if she came back last night. I assumed she did, but what if she didn't? What if she's –"

"We'll leave right now," Diantha said firmly. "We'll go back to Lumiose City to check on her. I have a feeling, after Giovanni's little speech, that there's really nothing left to say or do, especially because I doubt he's staying either. We'll just have the others here tell us about what we missed later."

They informed the others of their leave, confusing everyone with their abruptness, but made it away from them all and got themselves a quick ride to Lumiose City.

Hopefully, Ash was safe and sound in Siebold's home.

* * *

Serena found her mother in the hotel, looking ruffled and a mess. She couldn't help crying, and her mother was quick to engulf her in a hug.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Serena blurted out everything that had happened. Her mother looked silent and chagrined.

"Let's go to one of the rooms here. We can stay the night," her mother quietly told her, and led her to the next floor and to a room.

Once there, her mother sat her down and looked stiffly at the ground. She sighed heavily, before looking back up at her daughter and giving a pleading smile.

"They were going to take you," she blurted out.

Serena looked at her mom in confusion. "What?"

Her mother grimaced. "We're really down on our luck, Serena. Money's not coming in, and we're saddled with a lot of debt. I…I needed to get us that money, Serena. They told me you would only be gone for a little bit –"

"You were going to sell me?!" she screeched, staring at her mother in horror.

Her mother looked back pleadingly. "It's okay! I didn't have to! You had your friend, and they said they could take her instead!"

"It is  _not_  okay," Serena was even more horrified by her mother. "I sent you that picture of me and her to show you we'd found each other and were having fun! I can't believe you…you would just sell her out like that!"

"It was either you or her," her mother said sharply.

Serena looked at her like she couldn't even recognize her anymore. Shaking her head in denial, she backed away from her mother, before running out of the room and out of the hotel. She ran until she found herself at the closed restaurant, where she stumbled to the back and hid by the back entrance, crying to herself and hoping her friend was alright. She fell asleep like that, only to be woken up by a soft but firm tapping on her shoulder. She groggily looked up and saw, to her surprise, Lysandre de Lis standing there and looking at her in calm amusement.

"Young lady, aside from how uncomfortable that position may look, why on earth are you resting there in the first place?"

She sniffled. "I wanted to tell Siebold something. It's really important."

"Tell me what?" Siebold asked, appearing suddenly with the other Elite and Kalos' Champion.

She swallowed heavily, though she idly observed their disheveled and perturbed appearances.

"Ash was taken by people!" she blurted out, before bursting into tears again.

She was surrounded by silence, only to be broken by an unfamiliar voice.

"I truly hope that there's an explanation for all this," a man said icily, and they all looked over to see a light-haired blunet standing away from there, looking at them with icy eyes. "I was hoping to report to my employer with  _good news_ , not tell him that Ash Ketchum has been taken again."

"And who is your employer?" Lysandre stepped in, speaking diplomatically, despite the fact that they all had a sinking feeling (minus Serena, who was just confused and upset, and Lysandre who hadn't yet caught up to what the others knew) that they knew just who his employer was.

The man scowled at them, taking out a sleek black gun that he held up and pointed at them.

"No one's business, especially if this group was in any way responsible and part of Miss Ketchum's disappearance," he sneered.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Malva held up her hands. "No need to point that at us! We care about her as much as Giovanni!"

The name of his boss seemed to further agitate him, and Malva realized her mistake.

"That's who you work for, isn't it?" Diantha moved forward to stand in front of the group. She also held up her hands peacefully. "With his speech in the meeting earlier, it wasn't hard to deduce who he was, after a few comments from Ash knowing him, he mentioning her name, and that little quip about 'burning everything in his way.' And you can tell him that we are all  _friends_  of Ash. She got away from the traffickers and found Siebold, who helped her and kept her safe. We want to find her just as badly."

The blunet held the firearm up a second longer, before lowering it to his side and then eventually hiding it away.

"Giovanni's not going to be happy about this," he muttered. "And I still want a full report about just exactly what had happened," he gave Serena a look.

And as everyone else turn to her, Serena felt her shrink into herself.

* * *

Ash couldn't help that her body was shaking. She was scared and she was being led blindly to somewhere. With her head covered, and her hands tied behind her back, she was walking without any clue as to what was going on and where she was. She was only just lucky that the group she was with had argued on restraining her legs, and decided against it since one of them would have had to carry her.

"Here," one of them said gruffly, and she was pushed somewhere.

She could hear the loud music, pounding into her head and practically thrumming through her body with vibrations. There was laughter, sounding crude and not at all as if they were laughing at something genuinely funny. She could also smell the repugnant odor of smoke and alcohol and sweat –mixing together and creating a heady musk that she was close to gagging on.

The bag was yanked off her head, and she was staring at an attractive man, staring down at her in calm bemusement. All around him, the dark environment of what she guessed was a strip club crowded her vision, and she wanted to run.

"So you're the new girl," he hummed. "I'm Romeo Degrassi, the fine owner of this nightclub."

"Where am I?" she fidgeted and looked around, wishing she could find a way to escape.

"You're still in Kalos," Romeo took out a cigarette and lit it up. He sat in a seat and gestured for her to sit down in the seat next to him. She did so reluctantly. "Not for long though."

She looked at him in fright at that, and his light blue eyes looked back at her calmly.

"I do dealings with the main host of the traffickers," he admitted, ruffling his light-brown hair. "I can supply them with potential turn outs, or just people overall. Other times they've requested I hold down a few of their merchandise and send it towards a buyer's way. You can think of me as a third party distributor and a supplier for them."

Ash began to wring her hands, trying to look for a way out.

"Don't even think about squaring up," he told her seriously. "You don't have the time or energy to try escaping, and I've got to fulfill my business end. Lucky for you, you're not going to a cathouse. There's some organization that bought up a group of people for some kind of purpose or other. Don't care much to know, but I'll admit to you that you'll be heading to Unova."

She squeaked at that, looking at him with scared eyes.

"As far as I know, you'll be leaving tomorrow morning –more like in a few hours, since they grabbed you pretty late and took so long to get here. I was almost late on my quota, since the group was missing at least one more person, but I got lucky with you. I suppose I should thank you," he said professionally, watching her quietly sitting and looking distraught. His tone changed to a softer one, and his gaze became a bit more gentle. "Are you hungry? You should eat something. You'll have a long road ahead of you."

Ash nodded, admitting that she was. Besides, she needed more time to think, and something to fill her up to help her to think in the first place.

Romeo got up and stood next to her, actually holding out his arm like a gentleman. She hesitantly took it and he led her around back, to a small break area that included a kitchenette.

"How old are you?" he asked after he'd sat her down and began rummaging for a pan and oil in the kitchenette.

"I just turned 15 the day…night of when I was grabbed," she sniffed, tiredly rubbing at her eyes. She watched him move around quietly.

"Happy birthday," he said in a light tone, keeping his eyes on what he was doing. "A shame it's turned out like this, hm?"

She didn't answer him, staring down at her lap. A few moments later, she heard the sounds of something sizzling and some crackling as something cooked, and the smell of bacon filled the air.

Her stomach growled slightly, and she acknowledged she really was hungry. Soon enough, he had placed a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her, and she couldn't help digging in. When she was done, she placed her utensils down and looked up to see him watching her contemplatively.

"It's funny," he took out another cigarette and lit it up. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoke. "Not too long ago, we got kids younger than you walking around the world, thinking they own it. Managing money they earn from gyms and trainers, when they're not even old enough to drink or drive. Can't get work, can't have sex. But they're allowed to travel around on their own, with just some little pet they got trained up to 'protect' them. And trusted to use their money right. And damn isn't that all a laughing stock of a joking mess. I kind of wonder about those parents and how they actually thought that was alright."

He rolled a water bottle towards her on the table, and she got it and opened it up to take several gulps from it.

"From 10 to 18, the age up doesn't really matter in this world with everything going on. 18 still isn't old enough for much, except you can go out and have sex, and get a crappy job. And you," he directed towards her. "You're caught in the middle. Better than 10 and old enough and mature enough, but still not  _enough_  to be able to do much in the eyes of the law."

Ash curled up into a ball and buried her face into her knees, but she was thankful she didn't start crying.

"It really is a crying shame," he muttered.

She was surprised and thankful enough that he even allowed her to have dessert in the form of chocolate pie.

* * *

Ash watched the women on their stages dance for the men, and couldn't help feeling anxious.

"In an hour, I'll have to bring you to the others," Romeo informed her. "You'll be set up with the rest of the group, and will have to wait until the buyer comes to collect."

She nodded, keeping her eyes on the half-naked women, bodies exotically twisting and turning. He watched her for a moment, glancing at what she was watching.

"You're pretty virginal, aren't you?" he asked nonchalantly.

Her face turned red, but she didn't deign him with an answer. Instead, he watched her carefully, before reaching over and tugging her from her seat and over to him. He guided her onto his lap and she started to freak out.

"Wh-what are you –"

"Teaching you a useful skill," he said frankly. "If you look knowledgeable, they're less inclined to want to teach you themselves. You also won't look like you need to be broken in and go through the seasoning process, especially if you're docile and obedient. The more you are, the better off you'll be."

She bit her lip, but nodded her head in understanding. She didn't know why he was giving her this advice or helping her out in any way, but she was grateful for any bit of kindness.

"Move your torso back, but arch upwards as well. Feel the music to try and get a sense of sensuality," he instructed, and she did so.

She noted idly that her hair was getting longer. And embarrassingly, even her breasts seemed to have grown slightly.

"Shift your body up and rotate your hips halfway. Let your eyes flutter."

He continued to coach her, and she followed through with each direction. His hand grasped the back of her head and pushed her forward, and he mashed his mouth against hers. She almost reeled back, but the hand against her head squeezed slightly in warning and she stilled, letting his tongue slip into her mouth and then slowly moving her tongue to press back.

After, he pulled back and nodded at her. "When you're being kissed, tongue and all, try to move your tongue to the movement of the other's. Most inexperienced kissers just senselessly bat their tongue around, but if you can guide your tongue to their movements, you can make it boost the power play and the fight. Or if you're not guiding your tongue to the others and swiping it around in their mouths instead, probe their mouths for a reaction or gain a sensual touch."

"Okay," she answered quietly.

"And if you have a buyer who likes it more than rough, and…hits you," she flinched, "don't fight back," he advised. She stared at him wide-eyed. "Those types tend to like getting a reaction, and more of those who tend to fight against them. So don't cry either. It makes it boring for them if you don't react how they want you to."

She nodded hurriedly, trying not to think about getting caught in a situation like that.

Romeo sighed. "Then again, if they look like they've gotten too bored, and may even set out to cross a line of sorts –" he didn't say what line and she didn't want to ask "–pretend to finally break and start in on the crying and pleading. It'll probably save your life more than you know, just to give in and give them what they want. That goes for any of them really."

When Ash gave her understanding to him, he nodded towards the dancers.

"From the top," he told her. "Try to copy them and their movements. Learn to give a show, and be able to control the way your body moves more."

Ash silently agreed, and decided to slip off of him. She uncertainly began to sway her hips, before gaining more confidence and then slowly swaying her whole body.

"Good," he murmured. "Try a little flirty, playful smile." She quirked her lips a little, and he began to clap. "Perfect."

At least learning all this didn't seem as bad as when she'd been with Tobias.

"Now try walking over to me like that."

She thought she wished that she could've been captured by the likes of Romeo over Tobias the first time. Even if she was being a little naïve, a part of her thought he sincerely wanted to be nice and help her.

* * *

He took a deep breath and licked his lips. He wasn't sure if it was him or if it was hot, but he could feel sweat clinging onto him like the way the nervousness was clutching onto his thoughts. Looking around at the quiet, gathered group in front of him, he couldn't help but think they were too subdued and eerily frightened of him.

The man that had introduced himself as Romeo Degrassi had come over to him, a young but very pretty girl trailing close.

"They are all here, all 32 requested people to help you and your organization with whatever you wanted," the man told him.

He nodded and gave a polite smile, looking over the group again.

"Hello, everyone. I thank you all for volunteering."

For the life of him, he couldn't understand why the group of volunteers just looked to the ground and kept staring at it, nor why the girl by Degrassi's side was looking at him in disbelief.

Giving an unsure smile, he continued.

"I would like to once again thank everyone for their participation in Team Plasma's plans, and I will just introduce myself now. My name is Colress. Dr. Colress Achroma, and I look forward to working with you all."

He couldn't understand why he got such a bad feeling about all this.

Started 8/11/15 – Completed 8/12/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Pokémon/Journey: Lol, I got y'all, didn't I? Almost thought I was going to change this on you guys. Also, pokémon given to Ash is not a biggy in here, remember? But the bosses may give her one later on.
> 
> 2\. Romeo: Really meant to be ambiguous, but I will reveal he's not too bad a guy.
> 
> 3\. Teams/Regions: Now off to Unova and Team Plasma! Mwahaha!
> 
> 4\. Trafficking terms: There are terms in here that are trafficking terms, so if you're confused on anything, feel free to ask me. I would post the links to sites I used, but this place sucks on links.


	10. Complex Relations

He was tall. He was tall, broad, clearly muscled and strong, and very well-dressed.

And he was infuriated.

Serena watched Giovanni Rocketto with a sense of muted awe, and a stronger sense of fear. She'd grown up watching this man become one of the most influential men in the world. She had products in her house that had come from his company. She'd watched him on TV and had even read his book.

And now she had also just found out he was the Boss of Team Rocket, and Archer was in the midst of explaining to him the situation. Giovanni looked like he was ready to burn up a few more people the more he listened to Archer, and Serena had had no idea that her friend had known this man or that she was that important to him.

At a certain point, Giovanni's head snapped over to her, and his intense glare made her wilt. She honestly became terrified as he stalked over to her, and was soon enough right in front of her.

"Your mother was responsible for Ash being taken?" he growled out.

And she was both afraid and guilty, and she burst into tears, burying her face into her hands.

"It's not her fault," she heard Diantha come to her aid, her voice soft and welcomed to Serena. "Don't blame her for her mother's wrongdoings."

Serena heard a huge sigh and she looked up and saw through teary eyes, that Giovanni still looked aggravated but not as scarily angry towards her as before. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering in another language under his breath.

"Where is her pokémon?" he snapped out as he straightened himself.

"Pikachu is at my home, while Maximus has been with Professor Sycamore, hopefully getting his wings fixed," Siebold replied quietly, still feeling despondent over the whole thing.

"What happened to him?" Giovanni scowled.

"The traffickers damaged his wings pretty badly," Malva stepped in to speak for the upset group. "Sycamore told Siebold and Ash that they had a machine they've been working on, that was supposed to help pokémon heal quicker. He'd asked to have Maximus for at least a few days or so."

Giovanni took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Have her Pikachu know about what's going on. He'll be angry otherwise, I'm sure. More so than he would be at what's happened. He'll get to work on finding any lead we can get towards finding Ash. As soon as Maximus is healed, you can transfer him over to me. As his old trainer, he's familiar with me and will want to work towards finding Ash directly."

Serena couldn't believe that Ash's Charizard she'd told her about had been Giovanni's as well…

But then he turned back towards her, and his eyes –while not furious –were still dark and a simmer of anger was just below the surface.

"Archer told me everything, and had made sure to extract every single detail from you. But now I need you to tell me  _where is your mother_?"

Serena froze up, and she could feel the room just basically become silent and still. But then…

Her mother had been willing to sell her out, so why wouldn't she (in another way) sell out her mother?

"She's probably still in the hotel room," Serena replied, strangely finding no hesitance in her voice.

"Good," Giovanni's voice was firm. "Archer, get the car ready. We're leaving."

"I want to come," Serena blurted out, and once again she felt everyone's eyes on her.

Giovanni turned to face her again. "Girl, you should know –I am not going to meet with your mother and talk over tea. Do you realize what I am going to do to her when I find her?"

A collective flinch went around the room, but Serena nodded shakily. Drasna came over to her.

"Sweetie, you don't have to go. You can let them go on and do what they will, but you do not need to come with them," Drasna offered.

Serena wiped at her eyes. "I sent a picture to my mother of Ash and me. That's how she found out. And it's my fault. And the fact is…if Ash hadn't been there, my own mother was willing to sell me to those people."

It was quiet again, before Drasna squeezed her shoulder and stepped back. This time Lysandre stepped forward, towards Giovanni though.

"I will accompany you," he told him. "I may not have known Ash long, but I consider her a close friend nonetheless. And…from one boss to another. I suppose we should share the burden of the brutality that will be committed in this region from this day forth."

Giovanni watched the man for a second before nodding. Malva spoke up then.

"Lysandre?"

Lysandre turned to face her grimly. "I desired to make this world a more beautiful paradise. You were right, Malva. We, Team Flare, have failed in that from the beginning, allowing these people to operate in our region. I promised that girl I would create a beautiful world for her. I will not make a liar of myself."

It was with quick comprehension, other than Giovanni and Archer, that the rest of them realized that Lysandre was the boss of Team Flare and Malva was also part of the team. And by Malva's look, it was clear she understood and that she would definitely be going along as well.

The rest of the Kalos Elite stayed behind, while they went into Giovanni's car and drove to Hotel Richissime. It was with the realization that she was leading these people to her mother, and that her mother was going to be viciously "interrogated." For the first time, a small grain of uneasiness entered her.

It stuck onto her all the way from exiting the car to being in front of the doorway, to which she knocked and said it was her. As soon as her mother opened it however, Archer pushed her mother inside and they entered into it quickly, shutting the door behind them with an ominous thud.

"Serena! Who are all these people?" her mother screeched, feeling terrified.

Vaguely, Serena thought that at least now her mother felt what she had during the ambush, and what Ash was probably feeling right then.

It was an out of body experience, and she heard and saw everything in a sort of muted way. It had been like that since earlier.

Giovanni asked the questions. His voice was cold and unfeeling, and there wasn't a single ounce of sympathy in those dark onyx eyes of his.

Archer enforced his command and dealt out the punishments. If an answer wasn't satisfactory, or she wouldn't say anything, Archer's gloved hands were loud as they encountered resistance. Bruises were already forming on her mother's normally fair skin, but Serena was just feeling detached.

And when her mother looked at her, eyes pleading, Serena felt herself shut down and look back without any feeling.

_How could you do this?_  she wanted to say to her mother.  _How could you be capable of this?_

In her mind, she couldn't help but think  _'I am not your daughter. Don't look at me.'_

No mother would actually be willing to sell their own child.

* * *

Colress wasn't sure what to make of the group that was now working under him. They were very quiet, although very efficient and hard-working, volunteers. But they also tried to keep their eyes to the ground, and wouldn't talk much to him, unless it involved the work he gave to them. And when it came to research, the volunteers didn't say if they were okay or not with his procedures. They allowed him to do whatever, and it disconcerted him.

Science was dangerous and research was a huge part of it. Which made the research and experiments he'd been doing definitely have a sense of danger, and only those volunteers comfortable with it should actually really be comfortable volunteering for such tasks.

"Coffee?"

Colress turned to Ash with a faint smile, accepting the cup from her. This was the girl who'd been trailing after Romeo Degrassi that day, and who he'd found himself getting close to and working closely with. She was immense reliable, smart, funny, but still a little bit sad and withdrawn at times. Sometimes, she still shied away from him, like she was expecting something bad to happen. That had been extremely prevalent in the beginning, until Colress had somehow managed to prove he didn't mean any harm.

She also, though, tended to try to keep her eyes to the ground. Colress couldn't really figure that out, or what was wrong.

"Careful with that," Colress gently moved Ash away from the case of vials he had in front of him. "These contain dangerous chemicals that I need to move. I was just going to get protective gear on." Ash nodded, and Colress thought for a second. "Would you like to help me?"

Ash's eyes widened, but she gave a small smile. "That would be nice," she said quietly.

Colress retrieved an extra lab coat for her, smaller in size than his own, and grabbed the safety gloves and goggles. Maybe if he showed her how to do things around here, she could be kept on as his assistant…

A side-glance at her, especially in her lab coat, and an involuntary flush took over his face.

He would definitely like that, and he hoped that she wouldn't mind the position. She could even do something other than mill about with the other volunteers when they're not doing something, or bringing him coffee and whatever item he needed. He could teach her some things in the lab, keep her occupied and learning, and she could actually just work alongside him from then on.

* * *

Ash decided Colress was kind and she actually liked him. She also firmly decided that he actually  _didn't_  know anything about her and the others, or where they came from and how they were obtained. She was also pretty sure Colress had no idea that he, or even his group, had been dealing with traffickers and those who associated with them.

A Zorua licked her hand, and she smiled down at it.

"I think Zorua wants to play with you," N smiled briefly. She'd met him on the first day they'd landed on Unova and had made it to Team Plasma's base. Since then, he'd taken to hanging around her a few times a day, and sometimes his face would be oddly a light shade of red. He was also shier around her than around the others, and she hoped she didn't intimidate him somehow. Ash found him rather adorable and liked how sweet and protective he got with her sometimes. It was like having a brother, and she really appreciated the feeling of safety she got from him, and even with Colress.

"Ash, Colress needs you," Brad, a Team Plasma grunt, came to get her. His orange hair stuck out everywhere, and she could guess that Brad had been taking a nap somewhere he'd hidden at, before Colress had found him.

"Okay," Ash said. She rubbed Zorua's head and offered a bright smile to N, missing the quick blush that stole across cheeks. "See you later, N!"

She then followed after Brad, who led the way to Colress.

"You were sleeping, weren't you?" Ash accused teasingly.

Brad coughed, cheeks pinking slightly. "Yeah, so?"

"And you got caught."

Brad wouldn't admit to pouting, but she'd been spot on.

"Whatever," he grumbled. They saw another of the group Ash came with walk by then, eyes to the ground. "Geez, what's with you and the others preferring to keep your eyes down, huh?"

Ash answered idly, not thinking about it. "We were trained to. Well, I was advised. We're not allowed to be eyeballing anyone, and just looking around could lead to reckless eyeballing and choosing up by mistake."

She, herself, had learned about that from Romeo, and didn't want to accidentally choose a pimp by accident just because she locked eyes with them. He'd told her it's best, in this business and around those people, to keep your eyes to the ground. Although, she had a feeling that everyone here from Team Plasma wasn't exactly in that business, and also that the others were more likely still doing it –despite most probably coming to the same conclusions as her –because they were used to it and it had become habit. Wherever they'd come from had made sure the habit had become ingrained in them.

Brad stopped short and stared at her. "What?"

Realizing what she'd said, she tried to backtrack. They were all currently safe there, even if it was another Team. She didn't want to ruin the only safe haven all of them had managed to find.

"It's nothing," she lied smoothly. "Eye contact is just a bad thing. You know? It's just…rude. Yeah, really rude."

Because she wasn't going to say anything to jeopardize a place they had found to be safe and away from those traffickers.

* * *

Colress, after hearing what Brad had told him, felt uneasy about what he'd learned. He'd called Ghetsis, and now he, Colress, and Brad and his sister Aldith were standing in a group together.

"Who found those people?" Aldith asked first.

"I don't know," Colress admitted. "I had someone be in charge of finding people willing to work for Team Plasma and be volunteers for research and the experiments. And I told Brad to find that person."

Ghetsis stayed quiet, listening with a serious face.

Brad frowned. "I made a lower grunt be in charge of that. His name was…Tadashi. Yeah, that was his name."

And when they brought the grunt in question in, the young man easily broke and spilled everything.

"I couldn't find anyone," he confessed. "So I ran into a guy, who said he could get me a group of people to come work with us on what we want no questions asked, and we'd only just pay a certain sum of money for them. I swear I had no idea! I didn't think I was dealing with those people."

And oh Arceus, it all now made so much sense. Colress felt sick thinking about it, that all of those now working for him weren't volunteers at all. They were trafficking victims, and had had no say then and definitely thought they still had no say now. And Ash…

That made him stiffen up, more so when she'd been brought in. She wrung her hands and she suddenly seemed even smaller in her lab coat than usual, and it just made Colress ache and want to put his arms around her and promise to keep her safe.

"My name is Ash Ketchum," she started out once she'd been prompted to start. "I was taken in Saffron City and brought all the way to Kalos…"

And she told them – _him_ –what had happened to her, how she'd gotten away, and then was caught again. And this time brought into Colress and Team Plasma's care. It made Colress, in a rare fit of fury unlike him, want to dump those people in a vat of acid, especially hearing how one had violated Ash and another had hurt her and threatened to cut her eyes out.

When Ash went back to the others, the little group in that room were silent and not looking at each other.

"So what do we do now?" Aldith asked quietly, wrapping her mind around the fact the younger girl she'd sort of adopted as a sister had been forced into their care in the first place.

Colress frowned. He had an idea, but it made him hurt personally to make it. And yet…

If it made Ash happy, then he could be content.

* * *

Before he was to head back to Kanto, Giovanni was going to look around Kalos and find out who and where Serena's mother had contracted this dealer of hers. He was going to find this man, find out where the hell Ash was, and do whatever needed to be done to get rid of this group for good. They'll never be able to lay their hands on Ash ever again.

"Are you going back to Kanto?"

He turned around and watched the young girl Ash had made friends with. The honey-brown hair of hers, caramel more like, had been recently cut short, framing her face in small waves. The girl's eyes showed how tired she really was, as well as her overall posture.

He remembered back at the hotel how the girl had unflinchingly watched her mother being interrogated, even at the cruel hands of himself and Archer. She'd said nothing, hadn't responded to her mother, and didn't move or look away. In fact, the girl's eyes had watched at first indifferently, before they'd hardened and even a sliver of coldness and a bit of hate had entered her eyes.

"Not too soon. I still have business in Kalos to take care of," Giovanni told her determinedly.

"I want to join Team Rocket," Serena said suddenly.

He watched her in contemplation. "Why not Team Flare? They're your region's Team, and Kalos is your home and where you live," he prodded, slightly curious about this girl's request.

"Team Rocket has been on these people's trail from the beginning. I want to be involved in that," Serena said urgently. "I want to be chasing them down, even if it means going to region to region. And while Team Flare maybe involved in this now, you know a lot more and are more active about this. You don't even have the restrictions of staying in one region! I want to go wherever I have to take them down, and-and find Ash and save her!"

Ah, the crux of the main problem and the same girl Giovanni was chasing after and wanted to keep safe.

"If I stay in Kalos, I have less of a chance to find her, save her, say  _I'm sorry_ ," Serena cried. "I don't want to just stay here and be based in Kalos, and feel useless. I want to actively go after them, after  _her_."

Giovanni continued to watch her in contemplation, before nodding slowly.

"Very well. You may join Team Rocket and come along with us. Be warned that you'll be essentially leaving everything behind, your whole life, everything that was yours and part of you in Kalos. And you would need to have a steel stomach for the road ahead of you. Brutality has been attached to our name, and we're not going to let go of it."

Serena nodded determinedly, not willing to take any of that back.

* * *

Ash was practically brimming with anxiety and excitement. On one hand, she would be going to the mainland and hopefully soon to home. On the other, she worried of leaving the base and going back to where things were dangerous. And who knew if the journey she would take, with N accompanying her, would be safe?

The airports were definitely not, considering Romeo had told her that the airports all over Unova were a favorite destination for "recruiters." And if Tobias was really still looking for her, her looks would be easy to spot around those areas and she'd be recognized.

All of them were unsure, but they'd checked the safest route would be a ship from Unova to Sinnoh. A shorter distance with no stops in between, meant a less likely way for the traffickers to get someone off of that ship and to some island base (or something to that extent). It wasn't foolproof, but she at least had N, who had Zorua. Brad and Aldith would accompany them incognito, watching from a distance and preparing for trouble. It was also better than if she were to take a ship all the way straight to Kanto, which led to more possible dangerous outcomes, and with the three of them being unable to accompany her the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem would be when she got to Sinnoh. The three had to stay on the ship and head back to Unova, which left her alone for the rest of her journey back to Kanto. She'd have to travel through Sinnoh all the way to Kanto, and try to keep safe.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just stick with you?" Aldith asked, looking anxious herself.

Ash frowned. "Colress needs you and Brad to help with finding the others' homes and getting them back too. Of that group, I'm the only one who lives over in the mainland, while the rest of them at least lived around Unova or even some from Kalos. And N, your father needs you to help with maintaining the Team, while Colress is busy and can't help him manage Team Plasma."

"Fine, fine," Brad grumbled. "I think that's Colress now, with our tickets."

Indeed, Colress came over to them, handing a ticket each. As he handed one to Ash, he gave a quick look to others. The three Plasma members left to the ship, leaving Colress with Ash. He gave her a small smile as he held her hands.

"Thank you for everything," Ash beamed happily and thankfully at him.

"I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to actually find out anything from any of you," Colress pursed his lips. "I am a scientist, but I do not condone the unlawful and morally wrong experimentation of those who don't wish to volunteer. Or overall cruelty. And in that case, I must reevaluate my own conduct regarding my experiments regarding pokémon, and hope to treat them as wholly as one should you."

Ash was extremely happy and proud of Colress' outlook, and of his newfound determination to be more conscious of how he treated pokémon in his experiments as well. He had never been a cruel person, although he'd told her that it had slipped his mind on how he hadn't exactly kept the pokémon's feelings and overall health in mind in many of his experiments. His goal had always been for the betterment of both pokémon and people though, but he now knew he should think about all those things.

"And Ash," Colress continued. "I hope you have a safe journey and you will get home safely."

To her surprise, he leaned in quickly and kissed her, before moving back and becoming stuck in a flustered state.

"Good luck!" he said, using one of his rather more adorable (slightly geeky) grins, usually reserved for when he was being extremely enthusiastic about something (usually an experiment).

Ash echoed that grin and went back to hug him close, inhaling his slightly clinical scent (with a hint of ammonia and iodine). She'd miss him for sure, especially working with him and learning all the things she did. Maybe one day, she might decide to work in a lab, maybe even his lab…

"See you, Colress! I'll look you up when I get back to Kanto!"

She was so close to home. She hoped it wouldn't be too long until she made it.

* * *

From every region, there seemed to be a universal meeting. Bosses of each Teams were holding a meeting of their members, having received an unusual, encrypted transmission. The large screens in the giant meeting halls were dark before crackling to life. Soon enough, a man hidden in shadows lounged in a chair in the screens. When he spoke, his voice clearly was modified and came out distorted.

"Ladies and gentlemen –especially the boss of each respective Team," the man spoke, voice still somehow smooth despite the distortion. "I am the leader of Team Rocket."

Quiet whispers broke out within each meeting hall, and Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus had a time trying to quiet everyone. Lysandre stood to the side, watching as Giovanni commanded the camera, his own Team standing around the meeting hall silently, while the Kalosian Rocket agents stood around near to their boss. In Unova, they were also silent, collected together with the trafficking victims they were with and had been in the middle of organizing and trying to help get home. Some Plasma members saw a light in the victims' eyes at seeing the Rocket Boss onscreen, and guessed it was because, by then, that Team and its boss were hugely known opponents of the trafficking ring.

"I will admit that I have left each of you alone, not caring to take any territories other than my own. You are also beholden to suspicions that I may have my own foothold in each region regardless. I will neither confirm nor deny that. However, that isn't important. What is, is that if  _any_  of you get in my way hunting down the human traffickers that, I will swear on your lives and your Teams' lives, I will cut every single one of you down. If you oppose me, try to stop me when I come to your region pursuing these people, if you condone  _this_ –"

And suddenly the image of the man in shadows were replaced by a video playing, a little boy being taken apart and then beheaded, and the screams of the boy echoing in each hall to the horror of everyone forced to see it.

"I will destroy you," the shadow man came back on, this time sitting up and looking intently at the camera, still not revealing who he was. "If you even own a single snuff film, I will personally make sure you get to feature in one."

A big red R appeared in the man's place, and then the video feed cut off.

"Well shit," Archie muttered. "I knew those Rockets were crazy."

And that was without saying how he'd had an inkling they'd get involved with the Rockets' trail of blood and horror somehow, and have their sights set on the other Teams –just in a different manner than Archie had initially thought.

Started 8/17/15 – Completed 8/18/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Sinnoh: Finally into the meat of the story and with the teams that are really going to matter! Full steam ahead, and Team Galactic and Cyrus to appear!


	11. Desperate Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Disturbing images ahead, mostly surrounding Lysandre's scene and I guess around Xerosic.

_If Ash said anything, she knew she'd start crying. So she said nothing as she looked back at Tobias, who was watching her quietly._

" _You've caused quite a bit of trouble for me, haven't you?" he said finally._

_She flinched._

" _Well, I'm certainly not too bothered by it," he admitted, causing her to look at him in shock. "You could still turn a profit for me, and make up for all of that easily. And just within days."_

" _No!" Ash screeched. She lurched back, only to tumble to the ground. When she looked down, she saw that her ankles were suddenly bound together with rope, as were her wrists._

" _Now, now," he stood up from his chair and stalked closer to her. "You shouldn't act like that. You have to remember –the client gets what he wants, whatever he wants."_

Ash shot up in bed, sweating as she awoke from the nightmare. Her breathing was heavy and she felt tears at the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill.

"Are you okay?" N asked her in worry, and she looked over to see him watching her anxiously from his bed.

She gave him a trembling smile and nodded. "Yeah…it was just a nightmare."

He got up from his bed and came over, sitting on hers tentatively and pulling his legs up.

"…Was it bad?" he asked quietly.

Ash hesitated, before nodding. "It was. I saw someone I'm terrified of, and I was back with him and in that situation. I don't want to get caught again."

"You won't," N said confidently, reaching over to give her shoulder a squeeze. "I have a good feeling. And you're almost home anyway. It'll be fine, I'm sure."

Ash hoped so too, so she gave him as sincere a grin as she could. She then leaned over to him and hugged him close, hoping that one day she'd be able to see him again and they could be friends with no worries. She was going to miss him and the others, like she was already missing Colress. She figured, once she got home, she'd find a way to get in contact with all of them. Even everyone she met in Kalos –she'd have to find a way to contact them and let them know she was okay and back home, and then be able to keep in contact.

There was a knock at their door and N went to answer it, finding Brad and Aldith on the other side. Finding out the ship had stopped and that they were on the shores of Sunyshore City, they all exited off of the ship, where Brad frowned at Ash.

"Are you sure you don't want us coming with you?"

Ash wasn't sure. Actually, she really wanted them to stay with her the entire way. But…

"As much as I want you guys with me, I really want the others to go home too," she gave him a small smile. "I had a decent guy last time, who helped me out a little, but I think the others were stuck with people who really hurt them to make sure they obeyed. So please go back and help them go back home too."

She could see the three of them were reluctant still, but nonetheless exchanged goodbyes with her. And then they were back on the ship and Ash was moving away and watching the ship sail back into the waters. From there, she hefted the bag she'd been given more onto her shoulder, and began to walk around the city. She had enough money to buy some food, which she went off to do. She was hungry and hadn't eaten in a while, so it should be fine. She just had to make sure not to splurge, and to keep track of the money she'd been given so she didn't run out right away.

Finding a Pokémon Center, she watched it warily. She knew that a lot of trainers on their journeys tended to use the Pokémon Centers as a place to stay and rest, but she was afraid that if she went too, she'd be recognized and found by one of those who'd worked for Tobias. But he was far away…Then again, they went to everywhere and who knew when and where they'd pop up?

Frowning to herself, she made a decision and had taken a step towards the building, when she froze at the sight of someone she'd recognized. It had been one of the entertainers from the show she'd gotten lured into all those years ago, emerging through the doors of the Pokécenter. Breathing in rapidly, she turned from him and it, and started to run blindly away. When she was sure she'd gotten far away enough, she looked around and found she didn't recognize the area at all. Not that she would –she'd never been to Sinnoh before, much less this city.

Walking around warily, she tried to think on her next move. First, she was lost. Second, she wasn't sure who to trust. After everything, it was hard to trust anyone and she'd only just been lucky recently.

"I don't know where to go," she muttered, looking around and trying not to panic.

"Do you need help?" a voice startled her and she turned around quickly to face the speaker.

A normal-looking (though handsome) blond man dressed in comfortable clothes was smiling slightly at her, but she knew looks could be deceiving.

"I-I'm fine," she stuttered, discreetly backing away.

His smile faltered and he looked at her carefully. "Are you sure? You look like you're lost."

"I'm okay!" she blurted out in a yell, before turning and running.

She was panting by the time she stopped, even more lost and confused by the area. Sighing, she decided to find a place to stay and had headed in a random direction, only to be stopped again. This time, rather than fear, she was getting annoyed by all the stops and distractions she kept running into. But then her annoyance was quick to turn back into fear, this time as the man discreetly held a gun at her from inside his dark jacket.

"Give me your bag," he grunted at her, and she stared wide-eyed in shock.

N-no way. She was getting mugged and this man was going to rob her of everything Colress and the others had given her to make sure she was okay.

"Please, sir, I –"

"Just shut up and give me the bag!" he raised his voice slightly, emphasizing his point with a jerk of his gun.

She shakily handed it to him, and he snatched it from her. "Please don't shoot me," she begged, and he hesitated before shifting the bag further onto his shoulder and running from her.

She looked around and saw no one had noticed the altercation, and she started walking around disheartened. Running across the police station, she hesitated and entered. Maybe she could get help…She was at a lost at what to do and getting desperate, so maybe she should chance this place.

She talked to the clerk, explaining her problem, and was asked to wait a second. While she did, she felt anxious and wasn't sure if she should just stay there. She was feeling uncomfortable and she didn't like being out in the open, especially after having seen someone from that group of people being around.

A hand grasped onto her shoulder and forcefully turned her around, and she was looking into the eyes of the man she'd run from around the Pokécenter, hoping he wouldn't see her and yet still being caught by him now.

"Well, well, if it isn't Tony's girl. He's been looking for you, you know? You pushed him a bit, made him unhinged after you left him back in Kalos. He's got your picture spread all over the place amongst us, and wants you back. I wonder what I'll get for returning you?"

Ash couldn't help her reaction, acting like a wild animal as she viciously lashed out and smacked him across the face. She lashed out again, hitting him a second time, before she fled the area and away from him. She kept going until she made her way into a more rundown area, to which she found a somewhat empty building that had other squatters in it. She found her own niche, and felt like she could at least stay there for a bit.

* * *

Miranda Herron looked at the man that had reported to her, tapping her fingers thoughtfully.

"Tony's girl is here, huh?"

And she knew it was her as soon as Jared had described the girl, adding in how her eyes were golden-like, like honey. She knew those eyes. She'd wanted to carve them out and put them on display.

A cold, cruel smile curled her lips.

"I want you, and tell the others, to keep a look out for this girl," she ordered him. "And whatever you do, no matter what, do  _not_  tell Tony about her being here or having seen her."

He looked hesitant, and she scowled.

"Did I make myself clear?" she hissed, eyes flashing dangerously.

He nodded quickly, and she calmed down somewhat. She had a lot of plans for that girl. If Tony knew she was here and within Miranda's grasps, he would come there and likely ruin everything. She wouldn't be able to have fun with her little mouse.

And she was very looking forward to having fun with the little mouse.

"Leave me," Miranda dismissed Jared. "Continue to look around for her and capture her. Drag her back here no matter what."

Jared nodded and then left, with Miranda's eyes alighting onto her newest toy. She grinned rather sadistically, her fingers dragging tenderly against the nine knotted thongs, and letting the cotton cord of the cat o' nine tails catch against her skin. She lifted it up, admiring all 2 ½ feet of it, and was sure the plaited leather ropes dangled enticingly in the light.

She did an experimental flick of her wrist, exulting in the sound of a crack in the air as the cords lashed out. And she knew, from experience, that it would sound even better against flesh.

When the time came, she would have fun introducing the little mouse to the cat.

* * *

Lysandre looked around the building. It had been a base for a trafficking ring, and as of then, between his and Giovanni's Teams, many of the victims were being located and herded together while the traffickers were harshly rounded up. Although Giovanni would have preferred a more violent method and had suggested at least simply shooting them all in the head, Lysandre thought that if they could properly put them away and have the proper authorities lock them up, then maybe more positive light could be shown on them and their crusade.

He stepped into the room, and nearly had to take a step back from it because of the stench the room was drenched in. It smelled of decay and rot, and the underlining scents of urine and vomit. Putting a hand to cover his mouth and nose, he braved a step further into the room and looked around. His hand dropped from his face, and he stared numbly at the twitching body on the metal table in the middle of the room. Walking slowly toward it, he saw the young child –he couldn't even tell if it was a boy or girl anymore –shaking. The child did more so when Lysandre gently touched them.

"It's okay," he murmured. "They won't hurt you anymore. Help will be on its way."

The child's eyes and mouth were sewn together, and each limb had been amputated. He'd almost thrown up in his mouth, and was still tempted to. He felt his gag reflex acting up, but he couldn't in front of this child, no matter if they couldn't see him or not.

"It'll be okay," he said, knowing it wouldn't. As much denial as he wanted to be in, he knew that it was too late. He just wanted to reassure the child anyway he could.

But the child shuddered one last time before dying under his hands, and he stood still in shock for a moment. Then he gathered the child into his arms and held the body to himself, clutching it close. He hadn't been able to even be sure if he'd at least gave some measure of comfort to the child or not, before they'd died.

"Lysandre?"

He took a deep breath and turned to Malva, holding the child tightly. A part of him, at last second, pictured him holding Ash in his arms and he shuddered even more. And then he thought of his weapon, the one he'd wanted to make through either Xerneas or Yveltal.

What if he'd accidentally made these monsters immortal? Or what if, if he used Yveltal instead, he'd accidentally killed an innocent child like this one? He wouldn't be any better than those people. And making these bastards immortal was the equivalent of making Ash live in an eternal hell, not paradise –always having to watch her back and never feeling safe.

"Malva, make sure that every last one of those people are captured. Do not let any of them escape."

"Yes, sir," her voice was quiet.

He ran into Giovanni, who looked at him inscrutably, wearing no expression on his face. The man glanced only once at the corpse in his arms before nodding.

"Tell me if you still want them taken to the police."

Lysandre, feeling conflicted for once, didn't answer him or his dry tone. But, several hours later, when he heard news that some of the sex slaves had been arrested for prostitution and some of the traffickers had managed to buy their freedom, Lysandre went straight to Xerosic. He knew Malva would be foaming at the mouth after hearing the news, but neither she nor he could show their faces. Not yet.

But he wasn't going to let this be.

"I need you to do something, Xerosic," he stepped towards the man who listened promptly.

It was a change from his recent behavior, given that ever since hearing of Ash's abduction, he'd become very subdued. But Lysandre was very serious at the moment, and he also knew that once Xerosic heard what Lysandre was going to propose, he'd immediately agree and perk up somewhat.

And as for those others who'd managed to buy themselves a little time…

He wasn't worried. Lysandre had a feeling that Giovanni and his Team wouldn't let them get away so easily, and was probably already hunting them down.

As for Lysandre's own Team…

* * *

Xerosic appreciated the use of the Rocket's technology. After using a teargas solution that knocked out the entire precinct, Xerosic (and the group he'd assembled) easily traversed through the building. He was quick to find where the rest of the traffickers were being held at, while the prostitutes were held somewhere else. They were being taken cared of by someone else, and would be taken safely from here and brought to the main Flare Headquarters.

As for himself, he was there with a different task.

Snatching the airtight mask from his pocket and that sealed onto his face tightly, he grabbed his clipboard and continued into the holding area where many of the traffickers were kept. From there, he took out the Rocket's "cage-shield" tech, pressing a button and throwing it into a cell experimentally. A light gold energy shield was created from inside the cell, trapping the trafficker inside of it. But what else Xerosic had dropped with it, landing inside of the energy shield, was a container that broke and leaked out gas. While he was assured the shields would hold up against it, the mask was also another precaution.

He began to take note of the effects, ignoring the man's screams. Scratching a few things on his clipboard, he idly noted the man's skin practically melting off, before he moved. He wasn't a sadist by any means, and would go about this as clinically as he could.

Even if a part of him slightly reveled in their pain, after what they did to Ash and all.

He went onto the next cell, to which he redid the process again, only this time he noted different effects for the next chemical. The man's blood poured out from his nose, ears, eyes, and even from his fingernails.

Xerosic just observed, wrote something down, and then moved on. He did this with all the traffickers stuck there with him, and he felt absolutely no sympathy at all. These people were in the business of hurting people. So why would he care about hurting them back?

They were cruel beings who enjoyed cruelty, so people of equal brutality had been dispatched to take care of them.

It was a match to a match, and he certainly had no qualms about what he was doing right then.

* * *

Volkner, gym leader of Sunyshore's gym, couldn't stop thinking of the young pretty girl he'd met earlier. Unfortunately, she'd run away in a panic and he had no idea where she was or what had happened. Somehow or other, she'd gotten spook by him.

But he couldn't figure out why?

Unfortunately, he'd not seen her again after. So he'd headed to the bar restaurant he usually went to, knowing Flint would be waiting for him. Just as he was nearing it though, he saw a strange man running passed him, holding tightly onto a familiar backpack. He'd seen it before –that girl had been clutching onto it!

Scowling, he ran after the man, letting out his Luxray as he did so.

"Luxray, Agility! Then tackle!"

He was relieved when his pokémon managed to do as he said, catching the man off guard, and crashing him to the ground. From there, Volkner had caught up and snatched the man's collar.

"Where'd you get that backpack?" Volkner yelled.

"It's mine!" the man yelled back.

He shook the man. "Liar. I recognized it. It belongs to a girl. Where is she?"

The man pressed his lips closed, but even Luxray started growling, the pokémon's body crackling with electricity as it felt its master's agitation. The man looked at it warily. Another shake from Volkner had a gun falling from inside the man's jacket to drop onto the ground. Eying it in disgust, but also feeling worried now, Volkner carefully pocketed it before dragging the man with him to the police station. When he reached the clerk upfront and explained what happened, the clerk looked like he knew what he was talking about right away.

"A girl came in earlier. She was reporting her bag was stolen, but when I went to get Officer Jenny, she'd run away for some reason," the clerk told him.

Volkner wondered why she kept running away.

"This the man?" Officer Jenny appeared and walked around the counter to take the man Volkner had apprehended.

The man struggled a little, but Officer Jenny was quick to put the handcuffs on him. Volkner took out the gun carefully, still not wanting to leave his prints on it, and handed it over as well.

"He had this on him. I don't know if he…"

"I didn't shoot her!" the man protested. "I just made her hand over the backpack!" he confessed.

The man tried to back away, but a warning snap of Luxray's jaws kept him still.

"We'll process the backpack and its contents as evidence," Officer Jenny told him, though she'd opened it to at least peak inside.

A picture slipped out, showing the girl with a few other people. The most distinguishable was a man with long green hair and a weird contraption on one of his eyes, and the second being a blond man with glasses and in a lab coat.

"That's the girl," Volkner confirmed, picking up the picture.

Officer Jenny took the picture from him with a grimace that he curiously noted.

"I know her. Her picture's been circulating around the precincts in all the regions just recently. She's Oak's surrogate daughter of sorts, and Giovanni Rocketto's 'friend.' Apparently, she'd been taken a year ago by traffickers."

Volkner froze, remembering that meeting clearly. He and his fellow Sinnoh gym leaders and the Sinnoh Elite, along with Cynthia, had been in shock and wariness as they listened to (and even after) Giovanni's impassionate and furious speech towards everyone about the traffickers, even though they hadn't been face to face with the man. But now he had a face to put to the girl he'd run into and the girl Giovanni had apparently shown a picture of to his own Kanto colleagues. He also had a name.

_Ash Ketchum._

He had to get to Flint, and tell him what happened. From there, he had to find a way to contact Giovanni somehow.

Volkner also had to keep looking for that girl, because who knows what else was going on and happening to her in his city.

* * *

It had been a few days since she'd had her stuff stolen and she'd run across the man from the trafficking group. She was terrified and growing rather paranoid of things, not sure if at any moment she'd get caught and/or found by someone who'd drag her back.

She had no money, was lost, and unsure what to do now. She was still squatting in that building, along with a few other homeless people. If she went back to the police, the man might be watching the area and keeping a lookout for her. And she didn't know how she'd get out of the city without being caught. She didn't even know what direction to go! It was hard making herself venture out for any reason, and only when she got really hungry did she dare sneak out.

Like then.

She could feel her stomach aching, and if she didn't eat soon she had a feeling she was going to pass out. She was feeling faint as it was.

She wondered if she could find a job. She was young though, and not sure who would hire her. And she was still trying to not be seen by those traffickers either. She wasn't sure if they would leave that place any time soon, or even if they were stationed there.

She caught sight of a strange-looking woman with purple hair, and dressed in a white uniform that looked kind of…space-like? She was walking swiftly down the street, carrying a bag that contained something heavy. Following after her discreetly, Ash was led to an area where a group of people mingled. They were all wearing similar uniforms, even complete with a turquoise-colored wig. Staying near the back of the group, she realized that this was a Team Galactic meeting. A recruiting meeting actually.

Sighing to herself, Ash turned back the way she came and left. She wandered around, wary of her surroundings and aware that she looked like some homeless person. Which she technically was.

But still, her clothes were dirty and her skin felt unclean. She knew her hair was probably starting to become lanky and greasy, and that there was no way someone was going to willingly help her the way she looked.

Funnily enough, one of those Galactic recruiters spotted her, now that they'd been set to go around the city. He strode towards her and she looked around, trying to see an escape.

"You there! You look like the type that needs a goal!" he started talking the usual propaganda, but Ash was just anxious about being in one spot for too long.

"Thank you, but I'm fin –" she'd just been about to interject, when she saw someone she knew. Someone she was horrified to see.

She remembered Miranda. She remembered the woman pulling at her hair, threatening to cut out her eyes, just happy to inflict any sort of pain on her. And she was across the street, some ways away, and staring straight at her with a slowly growing smile.

"I'll join!" Ash turned back to the Galactic grunt, practically shrieking. "It's fine! It's okay! I want to join!"

But then the grunt frowned. "Actually, are you even 18? We don't accept members under 18."

"I just turned 18," Ash lied. She was getting desperate. Heck, she'd been desperate these past few days, and she was definitely desperate enough to join a Team. "I'm 18 and I want to join. Like now! Please take me with you!"

Bewildered, the grunt nodded and turned, leading the way. Ash tried to rush him, until she'd gotten him to start running.

He, on one hand, wasn't quite sure how she'd managed to get him to do what she wanted.

* * *

That group of Galactic members left not too soon after, thankfully. And they traveled from Sunyshore, all the way to the not so far away city of Veilstone. Soon enough, Ash managed to get some food in her and get cleaned, and was wearing one of those ridiculous Galactic uniforms everyone had to wear. She hated the wig. It felt strange on her head, and made it itch.

They were now in a meeting in the Team's hall, but it was crowded and she was short. She couldn't help being stuck in the back, and trying to stand on the tip of her toes to see the leader of the Team speak, although she was able to hear him clearly. He had a nice voice, she noted. It was just…nice somehow.

Still trying to see over the tall forms around her, she tried peeking around the others, stretching her neck, but nothing helped.

"Can't see?' she heard an amused voice ask behind her, and she turned to see another member of the Team. He had dark blue hair, turned up into points at either side of his head.

She turned red in embarrassment, but nodded. She was taken aback when he held out his hand.

"Here, let me help," and when he tugged her closer and helped picked her up to sit on his shoulder, she nearly toppled back in surprise. But he steadied her, so she eagerly went to look at the speaker, curious to what the boss of Team Galactic looked like.

She pouted when she realized he was done and had left, leaving that purple-haired lady she remembered seeing from before, to finish up the meeting.

"Aw, I missed him," she carefully jumped off his shoulder.

"Maybe next time," the dark blue-haired man laughed slightly. "I'm Saturn. Are you a new recruit?"

"Yeah, I guess I am," Ash thought about it. She hadn't really wanted to join up with the Team, but she wasn't exactly there unwillingly either.

She just wanted to get away from Miranda.

Saturn shook her hand. "Welcome to the Team then. You'll get used to how things are done around here."

Ash smiled back weakly. She just wanted to go home.

Started 8/26/15 – Completed 8/28/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll, ain't I? Hope everyone enjoyed this and is looking forward to more Galactic and finally Cyrus! We're definitely full steam ahead, so please continue to review!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Team Galactic cut off age: Did anyone know they didn't accept members under 18? It's actually true XD
> 
> 2\. Cat o' nine tails: Fun fact: The name's actually commonly shortened as 'the cat.' Hilariously, I wrote Miranda calling Ash a mouse before that was written in, and by the time I'd chosen that as the weapon and found that little fact out, I found the coincidence funny and hilarious.


	12. The Man Who Called Himself God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Cause sex ahead ;p

Ash had been with Team Galactic for at least a month. She was…bored. Mostly lonely and homesick. But all the same, the thought of being alone and out there –and getting caught by Miranda –it terrified her. So she dealt with how she felt on her own, and obediently worked along with the Team. She only wished that she had at least Pikachu or Maximus with her. Being separated from them hurt, especially since they'd been together for so long and were so close.

Now she was just by herself.

Sighing, she moved the box she had on top of another crate. Currently, she was working in this storeroom of the warehouse (she was kind of amazed that the Team had this warehouse, and also of the large building that housed all the members –she was kind of wondering how no one noticed that too). There were a few other people with her, all of them working quietly and ignoring each other, and Ash had the urge to just jump up and down and scream. Everyone was so boring or lifeless, and the few that weren't were kind of crazy. And all of them were fanatical about this cause (she didn't even know what Team Galactic's cause was), or just plain fanatical about the boss. Who she still hadn't seen yet, or heard again.

In frustration, she snatched off her turquoise wig and tossed it onto a crate. It was making her scalp itch and she was hot working in the Galactic uniform while being in the underground of the warehouse. All in all, she was having a bad time.

"You look frustrated," a familiar voice said behind her, and she turned slightly to glare at Saturn, who only smiled widely.

"I'm hot and the wig itches," Ash grumbled. "This uniform sucks."

Saturn laughed and grabbed the wig, fixing it onto her head again. She glowered at him, but her glares and glowers never really have an effect on anyone (though she had no idea why not).

"Here," he gave her a water bottle he'd had in his bag.

She gratefully accepted it and gulped down a few swallows of water. He reached into his bag and rummaged around, tossing a sandwich at her. She smiled blindingly at him, before tucking into the sandwich. Patting her head absentmindedly, Saturn saw Jupiter watching from the entrance and he left Ash to head over to the woman.

"She's doesn't fit in," Jupiter frowned, watching as Ash happily ate her sandwich. Saturn raised an eyebrow at her, though Jupiter simply frowned more. "You know she doesn't. I don't even think she's 18 and old enough to be in the Team."

"Probably not," Saturn answered back unconcerned. "She slipped up once. Said she was really looking forward to going on a pokémon journey, even after everything. But she also said she had like three more years to go, so she's at least 15."

"'Even after everything?'" Jupiter caught, giving him a look.

Saturn shrugged.

"She doesn't fit," Jupiter repeated, watching the cheery girl. "She's…so positive and outgoing. Hell, I don't think she'd fit into  _any_ Team. She's not made for this, or to be part of a Team, Saturn. What is she doing here?" she turned to him.

He took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his head. Leaning against the wall, he watched the young girl too.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "You're right. She's not made to be in a Team, much less ours. I don't even think she knows what Team Galactic's cause is. She's just following orders obediently and being nice to everyone."

"So question is: what drove her to join Team Galactic?" Jupiter pressed.

He shrugged again, watching the girl shrewdly. Still, he really was fond of her. "I don't know. And you know? I don't care. If she wants to be part of us, then let her. I'm not going to ask about it or push her out."

"I didn't say you should," Jupiter scoffed. Her eyes also lightened though. "Stupid girl's sickeningly sweet. She baked her unit members scones the other day. Had a lot of leftovers and gave some to me when I walked in to check on them…"

Saturn snickered, pushing himself off the wall. "I know. I got to have some too!"

He laughed lightly and left her behind, heading back to Ash, who had shucked off her wig again. Jupiter shook her head, though she watched the girl for a few seconds more. She really did like the girl, ever since she ended up running into her the first week Ash had joined up.

It was kind of hard to dislike a girl who bumps into you and excitedly mentions seeing you around and that she really liked and thought Jupiter's hair was pretty.

* * *

Ash stretched her legs, wiggling her toes when she bent and looked at them. Humming to herself, she ran her hands through her hair, glad to not have the wig on for once. Currently, she'd found a somewhat large room that was empty of anything and no one seemed to come by.

Standing on her bare feet, she bent her legs and then moved into a twirl. Humming again, she then started to sing her favorite folk ballad as she danced around the room.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; remember me to the one who lives there, for once she was a true love of mine. Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, sober and grave grows merry in time; sewn without seams or fine needlework, if she would be a true love of mine. Tell her to wash it in yonder well, every rose grows merry with time; where never spring water or rain ever fell, and she shall be a true love of mine~"

She remembered singing it to Giovanni all those years ago. She wondered if he remembered, or if he even remembered her…

"What are you doing?"

She stumbled on a step, but hurried to straighten herself up and looked at who had interrupted her. To her surprise, she recognized the blue-haired man by the doors. Serious-faced and dressed sharply as always, even if it was surprisingly in a Galactic uniform (that was unlike the normal ones –but to be fair, neither Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars wore the normal uniforms either), was Cyrus Akagi.

Unsure what the businessman was doing there and trying to reel in the fact that it actually looked like Cyrus was part of Team Galactic, Ash hesitated.

"Well?" he asked harshly, and she flinched back.

"Um, I was –I was just…" What was she going to say? She didn't really have any excuses, and saying what she was doing wouldn't be okay (she admitted she was taking an unauthorized break, and just fooling around).

"Get out and get back to work," he ordered harshly, and Ash bowed several times in apology as she scooped up her shoes.

"M'sorry," she muttered as she raced passed him.

She hoped she hadn't gotten herself in trouble.

However, that night, when she told Saturn about it, he turned to her with raised eyebrows. He scrutinized her face closely.

"You don't know who that was, do you." He stated more than asked, and she blinked at him.

"Of course I do!" she said loudly. "That was Cyrus Akagi. You know –Cyrus Industries?"

Saturn couldn't help laughing a little. "And the leader of our Team."

She stopped short, staring at him. "Wait, what?  _Really_?"

He nodded. "Really."

Ash groaned. "Oh man, I am in so much trouble! I got bored and wasn't working and he caught me dancing around an empty room!" she rambled.

Saturn patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I don't think it bothered him that much. He's not the type to get…worked up."

She gave him a look.

He laughed again. "I mean it. Cyrus is…not a 'spirited' kind of mind. He sort of abhors it actually. Emotions and being all strong-willed and forceful…he really won't bring up enough energy to put it against you. He'd almost hate lively things, but hate is pretty much an emotion, so at most Cyrus will 'disapprove.'"

"I must be a nightmare for him then," Ash scrunched up her nose.

Saturn smirked. "Well, you're high-spirited, really animated with your gestures, and pretty feisty. You're probably the most liveliest person all of us have ever met, much less the liveliest person in this Team. You're practically the epitome and very definition of spirit."

"Man, he so hates me!"

He could only continue to just laugh at her.

* * *

"No, no! Like this!"

Ash gave an exasperated look towards Mars. The red head had been trying to get her to model around the Galactic uniform, maybe be pictured in an advertisement to join the Team.

"Why'd you get me?" Ash was tempted to pout. "Why not Jupiter?"

Mars gave her a look. "'Cause you're way cuter, duh."

"Mars."

Both females froze up and turned to the very distinct voice, and sure enough Cyrus had caught them and had been standing by the door. Mars fiddled with the camera nervously.

"Y-yes, Cyrus? Something I can do for you?"

Cyrus gestured sharply towards Ash. "I require her help on something."

Mars blinked in confusion, while Ash tensed up even further. Cyrus looked at her impatiently, and though Ash traded unsure looks with Mars, she hurried over to his side. He then turned on his heel and began walking away, and she did her best to keep up.

When she realized that he had led her all the way to his office, she was tempted to turn and bolt. But by the time she realized that, she was already in his office and the doors had closed shut ominously behind her.

"While you are here, you will be arranging those papers in chronological order. Stack them neatly in piles," he ordered, before quietly striding over to his desk and going to work on his stuff.

Ash was slightly taken aback, but after seeing him at work and ignoring her, she tentatively went over to her place on the floor, where there were numerous piles of papers. While cringing at the amount of papers and work at hand, she figured it wasn't too bad and that this probably punishment for that time. Well, if it was, she probably got off lightly and should get on with it.

And it was like this for the next few weeks, to which Ash had steadily become used to and even comfortable in Cyrus' presence. He didn't usually acknowledge her either, but the times he did –in that stiff way of his –he didn't seem to dislike her as much as she thought he would. But then again, he always did his best to hide how he felt. Which she felt was impossible –emotions were a part of a human being, of all living creatures. To not feel would go against nature.

And well, she'd also seen him get irritated or even frustrated, mostly at the Team Galactic grunts, or sometimes even Saturn, Jupiter, or Mars (who she finally learned were part of the top tier of the Team) earned his ire. She'd even seen him exasperated and even bored. Bottom line was that Cyrus wasn't incapable of emotions.

Disliked and refused to show them, yes. But not incapable of them.

Humming her favorite folk ballad again, Ash focused on the work in front of her, with the never-ending piles of paper. She could swear more and more seem to be added everyday –

"That song," she was surprised by Cyrus' voice. "It is an old English ballad. Why do you sing it often?"

She blushed slightly, having not noticed that she did or that he would notice. She shrugged towards him.

"I don't know. I just like it," she said honestly.

"It is…nonsensical," Cyrus surprisingly told her. "Why would two people give each other such impossible tasks? What is the purpose of them? Do they truly not want to get together? Or if they do, then why go to such lengths?"

Kind of in disbelief that he was actually asking that at all, much less that he was asking her, Ash struggled to find an answer for him.

"Well…isn't anything worth fighting for worth it?" she blurted out. She fully blushed then, under his direct stare. "It's just…if you're willing to go that far, then doesn't that mean you really want it and that all the struggles you go through mean the end result will be more gratifying? If the two of them really completed each other's 'impossible tasks,' then that's as close to true love as it can be, can't it? And if they couldn't, if they just give up…then maybe that means they weren't meant to be."

She grew anxious as he did nothing but stare at her after that, but then he turned back to his laptop.

"Continue as you were."

Ash let out a breath, and wondered what he was thinking of right then.

* * *

Cyrus wasn't sure what to make of the girl. He knew she was new to his organization, but it was obvious she didn't fit in. She didn't even know what the Team's goal was, and merely worked day to day, and kindly acted to all. Her extensive spirited self made him want to recoil, and yet a part of him remained…fascinated by this ardent girl.

The first time he ran across her, she'd been blissfully in her own world, dancing around freely in an empty room and singing that folk ballad. Instead of stopping her immediately, he'd watched for a moment, strangely possessed to do so without any thought. When he'd caught himself, he had interrupted her and ordered her back to work.

He'd caught sight of her whenever she was there, even if in his peripherals, seemingly a constant presence he couldn't get rid of. And then, on a whim, he'd had her set up in his office and doing work there, even if it was as simple as organizing papers. He'd watched her then, without her noticing, and she remained –to his reluctance –a fascinating creature that had somehow took up his attention.

She was everything he couldn't stand, embodied all that he hated –someone with so much spirit, a thing he hates the most. And yet he was continually fascinated by her.

Despite abhorring her innate nature, he found himself not wanting to change her at all.

And watching her now, she seemed distracted. Her eyes looked faraway, gazing at the windows behind him, and into the starry night. Before he could think on it (like seemed usual when he was with her), he opened his mouth and spoke up.

"Do you like stars?"

She blinked and gave him a blinding smile that he wanted to be and would have usually been disgusted by. Instead, he could only just  _stare_  at it, as if her smile held all the answers to the universe.

"I do! They're just there, even when you can't see them. Even in the daytime, they're there. It's like…you know they're always shining down on you," she told him in a content tone, looking oddly as content being with him.

It was not…the usual with others and him.

"Would you like to see them more clearly?" he offered before he could censure himself.

She looked surprised by his offer, but he kept his face blank of anything and continued to look at her. When she nodded, he got up and went to his door, glancing at her to let her know to follow him. Once she scrambled up and went to his side, he went out of his office and to the nearest elevator. There, he had it go a level up, to where they would be on the building's roof. He led her to the telescope he'd set up there, on the occasions he wished to be on the roof and quietly look up at the stars.

"This roof is not accessible to anyone outside myself. If you wish to see the stars, you may use my floor elevator to come here," he continued blithely, ignoring how her face both lit up and looked at him wonderingly.

Right at the telescope, he had her look into it and he positioned it towards a cluster of stars. Quietly, he began to speak of the different constellations in the sky, and she listened to him eagerly. When she straightened up, she gave him one of those blinding smiles and his eyebrows furrowed together. His hand rose without his permission, touching her chin gently. And, without further thinking on his part, he leaned in and, ignoring her eyes widening and the quiet gasp she let out, his lips landed firmly and uncertainly against hers.

It was quick but firm, and he pulled away just as quickly as it happened.

He turned back to the telescope and ignored her, adjusting the knobs. He didn't understand the strange feelings coursing through him, nor did he know why he did that.

It was more probably a poorly thought out action deriving from her confusing and mystifying presence.

* * *

"Cyrus has been acting strange lately," Jupiter commented to her fellow commanders.

"Has he?" Saturn raised up his eyebrows.

"He has," Mars agreed. "I swore I saw a smile on him the other day. A small, brief one –but a smile!"

That had Saturn coughing, as he choked on his drink by accident.

"Surely you're mistaken?" he asked in bewilderment. "Cyrus doesn't smile. Not unless it's one of those overly cheery fake ones for the public."

"It was a smile," Mars said seriously. "I swear it on my  _life_."

"Don't be so dramatic," Jupiter rolled her eyes. "So what if it was?" though she was skeptical and it really would be strange if he had. "Cyrus is entitled to smile if he wants. He just doesn't do it often."

"Make that never," Saturn muttered.

"Whatever," Jupiter huffed. "Have you seen that girl?"

" _Ash_ has been working under Cyrus," Mars told them, directly emphasizing Ash's name to Jupiter, who only rolled her eyes again. Although, that news had been a shock to the other two.

"Since when?" Saturn asked nervously.

"And for how long?" Jupiter asked, getting nervous as well.

Mars shrugged. "She's been here a few months now, and most of those months she's ended up in his care. Why? What's the big deal?"

"You don't think he hated her attitude so much, he ended up throwing her off the building or something. Do you?" Saturn turned towards Jupiter worriedly.

"Ugh, why does she have to be so lively?" Jupiter tried not to fret.

Just then, Ash herself walked into the room, interrupting their talk.

"Ash!"

She blinked at them and offered a smile, slightly confused but genuine nonetheless.

"Hi, guys," she waved a bit.

"Where have you been?" Mars asked immediately, scanning her over obviously.

Ash was taken aback by their concern. "Working with Cyrus upstairs. I just have to sort out some papers and stuff, but it's actually turned out to be a lot of work. You know, he's kind of nice," she added as an afterthought, though it made the other three look at her in disbelief. She smiled at them. "I was just going to get him some coffee, 'cause I think he needs it. You think he'll be happy I got him some?"

Saturn almost blurted out that Cyrus didn't do happy, but stopped himself at last minute. He gave her a strained smile.

"I think he'll appreciate it."

That made Ash cheerful, and she went to work on getting a mug and filling it with coffee, additionally adding some sugar and creamer. Saturn was tempted to tell her to leave those out, and that Cyrus probably liked his coffee bland –like his preference for everything else.

But no one else said anything, and Ash left them to stew in their thoughts. The three of them traded looks, all of them completely bewildered.

* * *

When she'd given the coffee, his lips involuntarily twitched up and he was smiling slightly. Which he quickly wiped off his face once he'd realized that, stoically accepting the coffee and taking a sip. It was…sweet. He didn't really add anything to his coffee, but looking at her expectant face, he found himself unable to voice anything. So he gave her a nod, which made her unnaturally pleased just by that gesture.

"Ah, you know, Cyrus," she started out shyly. Giving her his attention, he waited for her to continue. "You kind of have a nice smile. It makes you look really handsome. So you should smile more!"

Smiling herself, she then turned and headed back to her area, leaving Cyrus to stare dumbfounded at her. Deciding to just focus on his work, he went to do so. Only he became distracted and glanced over at her, to which she was busy at work herself.

"How old are you?" he found himself asking.

She looked up hesitantly, and he realized he'd stumbled onto a topic that had significance. The truth was that he didn't believe she was 18 anymore than Saturn or Jupiter did, though he had yet to say anything like they.

"I'm 18," she said, but she was clearly a bad liar. She'd averted her eyes away from him and was biting her lip, and her hands were fidgeting with themselves.

"Are you really?" he asked dryly, and she flinched.

"I'm 15," she mumbled, but he could still hear her. "My birthday's on May 22."

He straightened up at that. "That is only a week away."

She seemed to be surprised by this, and he didn't understand why.

"Is it?" she asked in amazement. "It's really been that long since Siebold and them…"

She closed her mouth and glanced at him furtively, but though curious, Cyrus didn't pry. Instead, he'd finally gone back to his work. Tensed for a moment, she'd watched him. But after nothing was said or done further, she also went back to work.

He hadn't forgotten that conversation, especially as a week later, when she reported to his office for work, he had nothing for her to do. Instead, he took her shoulders and gently moved her out of his office and down the hall, where he had (in probably some fit of madness, he was sure) had a table set for them to eat dinner and celebrate her birthday.

"Happy Birthday," he stated tonelessly, but she didn't mind his tone and caught him off guard with her sudden embrace.

"Thank you," she muttered into his chest.

Uncomfortably, his hands were stuck by his sides until he slowly moved them up to embrace her in turn.

"You are…welcome," he struggled to say.

She let go and gave a bashful smile, which he ignored in favor of leading her to the table and helping her sit. Pushing her chair in, he went to his side and sat down himself.

"I didn't know what you liked," he said stiffly.

"I'll be fine with anything," she reassured him.

And in which they began their awkward, but not that bad of a dinner. Honestly, he wasn't deluded into thinking he was the best company, but she apparently didn't mind him. In fact, she acted like she enjoyed his presence, like always, which had always been a strange concept to him. Not even his closest subordinates, like Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, or even Charon, were all that comfortable around him.

"Is everything fine so far?" he asked quietly.

"I'm very happy," she told him sincerely. "Thank you so much."

Secretly pleased, Cyrus got up and left a moment with their previous dishes, returning with a plate of blueberry cake that he had embarrassingly stuck candles on and had lit up.

"I did hear from Saturn that you enjoyed blueberry, and I was advised that a birthday should have cake," he muttered, placing the cake carefully in front of her.

Her eyes lit up and she smiled one of those bright smiles he'd come to associate with her. But then it faltered, causing a strange sort of anxiety to rise up in him. He had never felt that way, and it further made him wish to squash down any emotion. Only she seemed to make him incapable of that, and he found himself undeniably at her mercy. He wanted to dislike it and push it away, but felt an odd calm about it.

"What exactly does Team Galactic want to do?" she asked in tentative curiosity.

Though he had felt like she probably didn't know about the Team's cause, it somehow still gave him pause to realize that after all this time she didn't know. Or the fact she joined his Team without having any knowledge about it in the first. He wanted to ask, but thought it was probably more prudent to answer her now.

"I wish to remake the world," he started, thinking on how much he should reveal to her. "I want to create it anew and remake it in my image, where I will be God and I will make sure the world is without spirit and emotion."

She stared at him, looking visibly conflicted and confused. Then she bit her lip and looked up at him, wearing a miserable expression that made something inside him twist.

"Would you be able to make everything and…and be in charge of how everything worked and all?"

He didn't let it show, how much the question had been unexpected to him. But he frowned and nodded.

"Yes. In this new world, I am God and I will make sure that all I see come to pass," he said firmly, though lately he admitted his convictions had been…waning. He told himself to put a stop to that.

He was brought back to the present when he felt her tug at his sleeve, still biting her lip. She looked less conflicted and more solemn, which put him on guard.

"When you make the new world, can you make sure the world is safe and no one gets scared? And that…can you make sure I go on a pokémon journey and I can forget all of this and everything that happened, and I have nothing to be scared or worried about?"

Her request put the thought in his head, as he stared at her, that there was a lot more he didn't know of this girl than he'd thought.

"I promise," he found himself saying to her. "And…I promise in that new world, you would still get to be happy."

Somehow, he could not picture her as anything less than how she was –beautiful and full of life.

So when she gave him a watery smile, he remembered a quote from the only fiction book he'd ever read.

" _He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God."_

So he stood over her, gazing at her trusting face, and thoughts of the universe, his world, and the reality as it was came crashing down on him.

And maybe he made a choice he never thought he would, but he leaned down to kiss her softly.

Her lips yielded under shock, but she didn't pull away. If anything, once she'd realized his intentions and became certain of herself, she had leant up into him and kissed him back gently. Her hands, small he'd noticed, had found and gripped onto the edges of his Galactic jacket. He embraced her a little tighter and her lithe body lined up against him.

The curves of her breasts pressed against his front and he found himself wanting her almost more than he'd wanted to take the world for himself. Maybe even more…

She actually took over the kiss, her lips pressing forth urgently and coaxing him to her. Her tongue swept against his lips, an action he hadn't anticipated, and he suddenly thought that she might be more experienced than she looked. In an uncomfortable additional thought, she was probably more used to this than he was.

The last time he'd kissed a female, he'd been in his youngest years. And he'd never gone further than that.

Insistently, he let his own tongue reach out to hers, even as inexperienced as he probably was. His hands gripped onto her hips, and he knew that if he had to, he would bring this girl as a goddess into his new world. She was someone who needed to be worshipped.

Which is why he led her to his room, closing the door with a finality that made him realize this was the moment all of his carefully made plans would be laid to rest and put aside for once, and all his focus would be given to this girl and only this girl.

He carefully peeled off her clothes, the restraining Galactic uniform fitting on her body, but hiding everything and nothing to him. She didn’t stop him, but gave him a small smile while her eyes reflected a sadness he had yet to understand. And when she was bare to him, she carefully kneeled before him on the bed and slipped his jacket off. He patiently allowed her to remove each piece of his clothing one by one, kissing each piece of skin that was revealed to her, until he was as bare as her.

Naked and vulnerable, she sat back and looked up at him with a sweet gaze that had never been directed towards him before. She held out her hands and he climbed onto the bed, crawling towards her and grasping onto her hands. He kissed each of her palms, and looked her back into her face. When he kissed her again, her arms wound around him and pulled him to her, and he let his hands glide around her body, caressing her breasts, the flanks of her body, her hips, her thighs…

When he tentatively reached down, tentative in a way that was new to him, her legs parted for him and she kissed his forehead in permission. He slipped his finger into her and swirled it around, attempting to make sure she felt good. He wasn’t an unconfident man, but this area and this action gave him plenty of pauses and uncertainty. But she encouraged him quietly, though she had a just an unsure look on her face. A bit of fear was on her face too, which made him hesitate more, but her hand on his shoulder squeezed, so he continued thrusting his finger until she was reacting more positively for sure.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked suddenly.

But she shook her head and grasped him to her. “I just don’t want it to be like with him. And it doesn’t. So thank you.”

He wanted to stop and freeze up, wanted to know who this man was, wanted to do _something_ to this man if he had hurt her as it sounded like he had…but he had her wanting him with her, focusing on her, being with her.

So that was what he was going to do.

And another finger was added as he kissed her thoroughly, holding her tightly against him, and maneuvering her more onto her back. He yanked a few times at his cock, but only enough to get him fully hard and ready for her. And when he went to place the head of his shaft against her, he took one last look at her, and she gave him one more reassuring smile and nod.

“It’s okay,” she murmured, and he entered her slowly.

She was tight around him and his eyes rolled slightly. He bit down on his lower lip, but he didn’t stop until he was in her and she was comfortable. When he could, he started moving and allowed himself the luxury of rolling his hips slowly and letting the two of them move into a slow rhythm. He didn’t want to be in a hurry, and she seemed to want to be in the moment with him.

Despite it all, he admitted this was the first time he'd gone through with this, and despite what it seemed (and the lack of a barrier in her), she hadn't done this either.

Whoever had hurt her, who had gone as far as they had in violating her, he wanted to make her see this as something more than a violation. To see him as the God to her Goddess, and not another monstrous man in this faulty world.

He moved in and out of her, feeling her walls pulsing and gripping his cock, just as tightly as her legs and arms were around his body. His own arms wrapped around her and held her to him, and he rubbed his face against her neck, inhaling her scent and memorizing it.

" _I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity."_

That is what he wanted to say about her, about how he felt of all this.

But as he entered a state of bliss, there were words (once forbidden in his head) that resonated within him.

* * *

His hand was warm around hers. In fact, she was still in shock that he actually was holding her hand in the first place, but that Cyrus had cared to pay the attention he did to her lately, made her so happy that she couldn't stop her near constant smiling. It was something –happiness –that she hadn't truly felt in a long while. Even though she wasn't home, she wanted to hold onto this feeling for as long as she could.

"Do you want ice cream?" he asked her, his voice still as unaffected as ever. Still, when she looked at him, his eyes warmed towards her slightly.

"Mmhm! Please?" She held onto his hand, and ignored Saturn grinning at her and waggling his eyebrows.

Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars were quick to notice the change and deduced things for themselves, without either of them saying anything. Which was fine because Ash was still too embarrassed to say anything in the first place, and Cyrus just wasn't the type to say anything about it either.

"I like ice cream," a voice she had come to hate said cheerily, and her collar was yanked backwards as she was ripped away from Cyrus and into the vice grip of Miranda.

Her arms had wrapped themselves around Ash like snakes around prey, and Miranda had a knife digging into her neck. And as she looked up at the others, she saw first shock and then outrage cover their face. And for once, Cyrus' usually grim face was morphed into a canvas of fury.

"Who the hell are you?" Mars bared her teeth, taking a threatening step forward. She stopped as Miranda dug the knife in and made Ash bleed.

"Me? I'm an old friend of hers," Miranda giggled. "I wanted to get reacquainted."

"Let her go, before the entirety of Team Galactic is on you," Saturn's face became cold.

Miranda snorted. "I'd have her dead before you can call them in. And besides, we'll be gone before you even know it," she gestured to the truck not too far behind her.

"And you little girl," she hissed at Ash. "You owe some money after that runaway stunt you pulled. And don't think I don't know what you and that Charizard of yours did to Parker," she grabbed a fistful of Ash's hair and yanked at it, causing her to cry out.

That put the four she'd been with in a tense disposition.

Miranda turned back to them. "She's merchandise. Thanks for returning her."

"Merchandise?" Jupiter bit out, eyes flashing.

Miranda idly swiped her knife around the skin of Ash's neck, creating little nicks. "Oh, you didn't tell them, princess? We caught this little one fair and square in Saffron, and she was going to make us a payload in Kalos. But got her dainty little hands dirty when she managed to run away, now did she? Not too worry –when I'm done with you, you're going to be sold to the highest bidder."

"I'll buy her then," Cyrus said suddenly, causing Miranda to look at him contemplatively, before a slow smirk graced her face and she started to laugh. She tapped her knife against Ash's cheek in amusement.

"Oh, you clever, clever girl! Giovanna Akagi, was it? A very nice alias, my little mouse! How many other billionaires, do you know? Or did you just think you were smart coming up with those names, and got lucky when you met one of them, huh?"

"I didn't know," Ash started crying, her arms shooting up and trying to pull Miranda's arms away from her. "I just saw them on TV the day I ran away. I made up the names! I'm sorry."

Why was this happening to her? She'd just became happy with Cyrus and now this was happening. Why did this keep happening to her?

Miranda turned her attention back to Cyrus, grinning as she walked backwards and was still holding onto Ash.

"No, no, no, no! If you buy her, you'll treat her like the princess she is, won't you? No… _I'm_  going to make sure she suffers until her very. Last. Breath."

And then Ash was tossed into the back of the truck, with Miranda jumping in with her, and she did her best to look out and try to see one last glimpse of Cyrus.

All she managed was a blur of blue.

Started 9/2/15 – Completed 9/3/15


	13. Red Hot Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: First scene maybe semi-disturbing? Eh, if you're uncomfortable with any description of torture, just skip it. It's small and brief, but you know. Safer than sorry.

The slick feel of her blood glided down her back. The entirety of it felt raw and exposed, and every inch burned and felt pain all over. Another lash against her back had her arching, her arms straining against the chains that held her suspended barely above the ground, where a pool of her own blood gathered, some of it congealed already. Her arms were stretched above her and ached, and her toes brushed against the dirty ground every other second.

Miranda sighed. "You're not screaming anymore. At least you lasted for so long."

She was silently gasping, breathing rattling breaths and spitting out saliva and blood from her mouth. Her throat was inflamed and sore, and she couldn't scream even if she wanted to.

"What a shame."

Miranda walked passed her, lightly slapping her face with the cat, the leather cords stinging against Ash's cheek. The older woman went to the door, and glanced back at her in boredom.

"I'll guess I'll have to let you heal before I can have fun again."

She shut the door behind her and Ash was left in the room in semi-darkness.

* * *

Giovanni had finally managed to track this man down, but Romeo Degrassi didn't seem bothered or worried at all. Instead, the nightclub owner looked back calmly.

He'd interrogated Serena's mother thoroughly that time, getting a name out of the woman, but not a place to find him. It had taken him at least a week after to find Degrassi, and the place the man owned.

"Can I help you?" the man murmured, tilting his head to the side idly.

Giovanni slowly smirked mockingly. "Yes, yes you can. You see, I want you to answer some things for me, as well as the fact I'm looking for someone."

Behind him, Archer and Serena stood at the ready and Degrassi had glanced at them several times.

"Very well," Degrassi conceded. "Let's talk in my office. Shall we?"

He allowed Degrassi to show them the way, all three of them ready if the other were to try anything. However, Giovanni was mildly surprised that the other did no such thing and merely entered his office and then headed to his desk, where he calmly sat down. He gestured for Giovanni to sit as well, and he warily did so.

"Ask away," Degrassi said plainly. "And I will answer."

"Why are you being so helpful and cooperative?" Serena's lips trembled, in a state between fury and upset. She took a step forward, but Giovanni held up a hand, still watching Degrassi.

Degrassi answered the question anyway. "I didn't get into this business for the fun of it. Once, I was drawn in because of family, and then I was stuck. And then I stopped caring through the years. The others joked around, calling on my treatment of the women brought in fitting to my name and said I was definitely the 'Romeo' type of pimp that worked more towards controlling through gifts and affections. And to be truthful, it is my preferred method. I hardly use or care for violence and force. I really didn't and stayed indifferent with what I do."

The man shrugged carelessly, and Giovanni felt the temptation to pull out the gun he felt pressed against his side. But then Degrassi started talking again.

"Then a little sweetheart walks in here –well, taken by my men and thrown into this place –and somehow the world tilts a little bit differently, and it's hard not to get a new worldview from that, yes?"

Giovanni stiffened up, thoughts swirling and wondering and hoping (and yet not, because he wasn't sure to how she was being treated).

Degrassi leaned back in his chair, folding his hands on his lap together and looking up contemplatively.

"She had the prettiest eyes. A little golden really –like melted honey that was pretty stark against her fair skin. Perhaps I'd always had a weakness for girls like her –soft, kind, sweet…innocent," he took out a cigarette then and lit it up. "Or not. There'd been plenty of girls like that before, who cried and pleaded and I looked the other way and did my job."

Giovanni could feel himself get frustrated. He felt like he was being teased with Ash's presence, and at the fact he couldn't figure out this man. He couldn't figure if Degrassi was completely one of those assholes he'd vowed to take down, or if the other might have some sort of saving grace to him.

"But I did like her," Degrassi admitted. "And I do suppose I have a weakness for her then. I recognized her after a bit –right around after the time I'd been teaching her how to deal with customers before it was going to be time for her to be shipped off with the others."

At that, Giovanni almost lurched out of his chair to grab the other, but Degrassi had already started talking again.

"She was Tony's girl –Giovanna, I think the name was. Tony's been in a right snit ever since she'd disappeared from his group and has been giving out orders and passing out her picture, making sure to let everyone know if she was found, that she was to be kept until he retrieved her. I had been tempted to keep her around, call in short on the order we were supposed to fill, but remembering that Tony was supposed to come around here not too long after she'd gotten here, I thought she would have better luck going off with the others than to stick around and get caught by Tony," Degrassi disclosed unhappily, taking in a deep inhale of smoke.

"Where is she now? Where did she go?' Giovanni asked quietly. Because he didn't care about anything else right now, or any other answer to any other question. Not when he was now so sure that Degrassi was talking about Ash. He took out her picture and placed it on the desk, pushing it towards Degrassi.

"Where is she?"

Degrassi glanced down at the picture, and took his cigarette and snuffed it out.

"What was her name?"

"Ash. Her name was Ash."

Degrassi pushed the picture back towards him and sat back in his chair. "There was an order for a group of people, bought and paid for by Team Plasma, under the name of a Dr. Colress Achroma. He came then to pick the group up, and Ash was with them."

Team Plasma. Giovanni's hands clenched and he kept his growl to himself.

Looks like he needed a word with Ghetsis.

* * *

"Cyrus?"

He didn't look away from his window, gazing at the night and watching the stars blinking back at him.

"We swept the area. There was no clues left behind. Jupiter and Mars have gone back to Sunyshore, see if there could be anything they could find out, since that's where they found her," Saturn continued, voice soft but serious.

Still, Cyrus didn't move to acknowledge him. In fact, he wasn't sure when was the last time he'd moved from his spot. He didn't actually care.

" _Cyrus, I'm sorry!"_

She was in that truck and was being driven away, and his legs moved without him thinking. He ran after her, but he couldn't do anything and that was the last thing he'd heard as she rounded the corner and off to somewhere where who knows what was happening to her.

"… _I have nothing to be scared or worried about?"_

He couldn't even do that.

And everything she'd said and done…he could have picked up the little hints. He could have figured out what happened to her, where she'd come from –and he could have protected her better, kept her safe.

_He should have told her he loved her and that he still did and swore he always would, no matter what._

"You remind me of what I really am," he murmured.

Just a man. Nothing more, no matter what he aimed for. He wasn't wise, and he was really just a poor, blind fool.

He heard the door close quietly, but Cyrus continued to stare at the stars.

"You remind me what of I am," Cyrus repeated. " _Nothing_."

He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the glass.

* * *

Giovanni hadn't wasted time after that. He'd gotten Maximus, who was fully healed and ready to go (furious as well), and taken Pikachu with him as he'd gone straight to Unova. Degrassi had been helpful, providing information that he could use on the trafficking group, and he found that he'd somehow gained an insider and laughed to himself because it had been –in some way –Ash's doing.

Fully knowing where the main Plasma Headquarters were, as he knew where all the other Teams' bases were, Giovanni had no qualms storming in with a group of his Rockets. Intending to get to Ghetsis, Giovanni spotted Colress first and found himself storming over. He'd snatched Colress' front and had shoved him against his desk.

"Where is Ash?" he yelled, feeling fury build up just as Pikachu's body crackled with lightning menacingly.

Behind glasses, Colress' blue eyes dimmed. "She should be in Sinnoh, maybe in Hoenn. Depending on how far she's traveled."

Giovanni blinked, feeling himself get confused. "What do you mean?"

Colress eyed him and then looked around him to see the Rocket agents hassling the other Plasma members, though the victims of the traffickers were still hanging around and being wary, but not interfering.

"Team Rocket, huh," Colress muttered. He looked back at Giovanni. "We didn't know about them. I thought they were  _volunteers_. But then Ash let out something and we found out. So I helped her."

Colress explained what he'd done, getting Ash to Sinnoh and why, and that the trafficking victims around were those they were still trying to help get home or get settled somehow.

"Was she fine?" Giovanni managed to ask after. "When she was here, was Ash okay?"

"I did my best to make sure she was comfortable and happy," the blond firmly stated. "I cared for her."

Giovanni observed the other, and understood how the other did.

"I'm looking for her," Giovanni told the other. "I've been looking for her. You can come with us."

Colress brightened up a little. "I'm not really needed here. Ghetsis has been a little uncomfortable since this has all come out, and I think he's really just disgusted with the world in general. He'd really wanted to rule over the world and well…I think he's finding the world lacking. Currently, he's been aggressively taking charge of getting everyone here to help out the victims, and using the pokémon around here to sort of help them feel comfortable and all –like the pokémon therapy studies Professor Oak came up with and has vouched for."

Giovanni hmmed in thought, idly adding, "Ash was why he came up with them, and had been the main subject of the studies. Where in Sinnoh did you say the ship took her to?"

"Sunyshore," Colress answered immediately.

"Then I guess we're going to Sunyshore."

So after Colress settled his stuff there, he joined Giovanni in heading to Sunyshore. There, Serena was tasked with going with Archer in searching the city for any news, while Giovanni and Colress would head to the Rocket base there and see if any news was recovered. Before they could though, Serena and Archer had rushed back and told them that there had been a sighting of her there and that she'd gotten into trouble. Apparently someone had mugged her at gunpoint, taking the bag she'd had with her and running off with it.

"I gave her that bag!" Colress said indignantly. "I made sure that it would be packed with all the necessities, and that Ash would have everything she needed for the journey home."

"Is the mugger still in jail?" Giovanni was scowling and counting down from 10.

It was like every little thing that could go wrong was going wrong.

"Yeah, he's still there," Serena frowned. "But there's been no news of Ash."

"We found out that she attempted to file a report of the mugging and her stolen backpack, but had mysteriously run off after the clerk had gone for Officer Jenny," Archer continued on. "Afterwards, there have been no absolute sightings of her."

"'Absolute' sightings?" Colress had caught that. Giovanni had too and waited for his second to answer.

Archer barely held back a grimace. "There have been some who say they've spotted a girl of her description, walking around in disarray and looking in poor condition. Just a few weeks ago, those sightings have stopped though."

Giovanni didn't know what he was more worried about –Ash walking around like that, or the fact that there was no more new sightings of her.

"At least this saves us a trip to the police station. Who knows who we can trust there anyway," Giovanni was frustrated at this point, especially since it seemed like there was no more leads to follow.

Suddenly, his phone rang and Giovanni answered it in aggravation.

"Giovanni, it's Ariana."

"What is it?" he snapped into his phone.

"There's been a gym leader that's been trying to contact you. I've tried to put it off, but he's been persistent."

"Who are they and what do they want?" Giovanni pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He's a Sinnoh gym leader actually," Ariana informed him. "He's from Sunyshore. He refused to tell me what he needed from you."

Giovanni was taken aback. What coincidence.

"It doesn't matter," he said gruffly. "I'm in Sunyshore. I might as well go to see him personally, and ask what he wants."

He hung up and faced the others. "It looks like the gym leader of this city has been asking after me. I'm going to go see him and find out what he wants, so you all can just stay here in the meantime."

He reluctantly left them after that, heading to this gym leader who was being vague in demanding his attention. He found his way to the Sunyshore Gym quickly, where when he announced who he was, he was rapidly greeted by the gym leader Volkner.

"I must say that I was caught off guard when I found out you've been persistent in trying to contact me. May I ask what was so urgent?" Giovanni reluctantly kept to being polite, as much as he wanted to demand some answers and his temper being already short as it was.

"In the League meeting all that time ago, you mentioned a girl you'd been looking for," Volkner said seriously, and Giovanni's blood felt like ice. "There was a girl in this city that looked lost and afraid, and I tried to help her. She ran away, but then she got mugged after. I managed to find the mugger and bring him to the police, but there was a picture of her in the bag he'd stolen from her. She was in it with a few people, and Officer Jenny said she recognized the girl as the one you'd been looking for. I just wanted to let you know she'd been seen and was sort of okay at the time, if you hadn't had any leads before now."

Giovanni sighed. "The last lead I had was what brought me here in the first place. Thank you for confirming it and filling in on what happened with her. Has there been anything else that's happened around here?"

Volkner shook his head. "Nothing related to the traffickers, which I have been trying to look out for. There was some vague stuff that showed some of their presence here, but nothing really and I think it was just a temporary stay. Aside from that, it's just been some Team Galactic activity that's been ignored. Although, just recently, they've been really active in being around for some reason, except no one's had a clue what they're up to."

That caught Giovanni's interest. "Team Galactic, you say…Thank you for your help. I think I might have something…"

Turning to leave, he was surprised when Volkner stopped him.

"Would you call me when you get her, and tell me how she is?" the blond gym leader asked hesitantly.

Giovanni appreciated the other saying 'when' and not 'if.'

"I will," he found himself agreeing to.

* * *

When he told the others what Volkner had told him, he also told them about what he thought of Team Galactic maybe having some sort of idea of what had happened to Ash after the mugging problem. He had decided he was going to go find the Team Galactic base that was there and find out for himself.

He took Colress and Serena with him, leaving Archer behind to be in charge and get the Rockets in that area started on what they should be doing now and watching over them. He then decided to hell with everything and that he would just stride up to the Galactic base there, and 'knock' on their proverbial door. It wasn't hard, after that, to get someone's attention and for someone to quickly come meet with him, considering just exactly who he was.

"What can Team Galactic do for the infamous, rich Giovanni Rocketto?" the purple-haired Galactic Commander known as Jupiter said warily, though there was an undertone showing she was stressed and tired out.

Irritated with it all and just wanting some answers and to find her already, Giovanni fished out Ash's photo and held it out to the other.

"Have you seen this girl?" he demanded.

He could see, just from how immediately the woman reacted –eyes widening and lips parting in surprise –that was a yes.

"I have been looking for her for at least  _two years_ now," Giovanni could feel himself reach a sort of breaking point. "I have chased her from Kanto to Kalos to Unova and now to here. I have had my Rockets hunt down and make those fucking traffickers pay. If you don't tell me anything right now –"

Jupiter swallowed, blinking back tears. "I don't know where she is," she whispered. "We've been looking for her, or at least any traffickers around. Since this was where we met her and where she'd been almost desperate to join Team Galactic and get away from here, we thought coming back here and looking for clues might help find her."

"I guess we know why she was so desperate to get out of here and join the Team," Mars clenched her jaw, looking away.

Giovanni looked between the two women, before slumping back in his seat and covering his face with his hand. Colress took over and asked them what happened.

"She joined up here, and we took her all the way to Veilstone," Jupiter remembered. "She'd worked with us a while, and was pretty out of place there and with us…but she was liked and got along well enough with most of us. She hung around mostly Saturn, Mars, and myself…and then eventually our boss," she added hesitantly, watching Giovanni.

Giovanni frowned and tensed slightly, but kept silent.

"We were all out one day, when she was grabbed from behind by some woman," Jupiter flashed back to then and her hands formed fists, her nails digging into her palms. "She basically took Ash from right under us, and we couldn't do anything."

"Since then, we've been looking for her or for anything that could help lead us to her," Mars said dejectedly.

Giovanni took the photo in his hand and stared at it, looking over the familiar features of the girl in the picture, a sight he'd memorized. She looked so happy and young in the photo…her smile was so bright and her eyes was joyful.

"Every time it looks like she's okay, she's getting pushed back in a corner and getting hurt," Serena sniffed, and he turned to see her on the verge of crying.

He sighed tiredly and reached over and patted the girl's arm. He stood up then.

"Let's go," he said monotonously. "We'll have to move on from here and find some other way to find her."

"We can help," Jupiter interjected. "We've been looking for her too, and we want her found and back safely."

Giovanni glanced at her thoughtfully, before yielding. "We'll head to Veilstone to meet with your boss. You should call Cyrus to tell him we're on our way."

He turned and started heading out with Serena and Colress, barely hearing Mars mutter "How'd he know Cyrus was our boss? No one even knew  _he's_  apparently the freaking boss of Team Rocket!"

* * *

Ash wasn't coherent. She'd been in and out of consciousness, unable to comprehend anything aside from the fact she'd been taken down from the chains. She'd then been brought to somewhere, harshly hosed down and then after she was as cleaned as can be, she knew they'd did something to her back before it was bandaged. She wasn't sure what happened after that, because everything was blurry and she couldn't remember anything.

When she awoke and was really conscious, she was dressed up in a skimpy outfit and her back was screaming at her. Whimpering, Ash blinked and slowly looked around, realizing the bumpy sensation she was feeling was due to her lying in the back of the truck on her front, and the truck speeding away.

"You're awake, huh?" a man's voice said from up front.

Ash immediately quieted.

"I'm doin' you a favor, you know? If you'd stayed back there, Miranda would have kept at it once you were at least halfway healed. She likes you. Not a good thing obviously, and a little too much. But don't worry –I found you a good buyer. He'll take care of you."

Ash clamped her mouth. Besides, she didn't think her throat had recovered from all her screaming, even if she didn't know how long it's been since then.

"Just be good."

She had the horrible urge to act as bad as she could, and maybe hopefully then it'll get to the point where everything would finally be over and she didn't have to go through all of this anymore.

Ash was just  _tired_.

She stopped talking and just stared blankly up at the truck's top.

* * *

Ash didn't say anything, even when the man who'd taken her and run had finally reached the so-called buyer. Somehow, they'd managed to get all the way to Hoenn, and Ash didn't know if her inattention took away her notice of time passing, or if she'd been too passed out before that that the trip had passed her by.

"She's pretty. Quiet too. Obedient?" the buyer was tall, had pepper hair, with more gray at his temples.

The man who took her grinned widely. "No doubt. She'd had a good beat in that taught her to keep in line. She won't give you trouble."

The buyer nodded and looked at her critically. "I wanted someone for labor. Can she clean at least?"

The man's grin faltered. "Uh…yeah, yeah. Sure."

The buyer gave him a withering look, but dismissed him. "It doesn't matter. I'm sure I can teach her and she'll pick it up quickly."

He handed the man a case that was filled with money when it was quickly opened and shown, and the man shoved her towards the buyer, who gripped her arms tightly. However, his hands loosened once the man left, and then he turned to her.

"What is your name?"

"A-Ash," she croaked out, and her hand flew to her throat with a wince.

The action was noted with a critical eye. "Save your voice," he ordered. "My name is Howard. When you can speak, you may address me as that."

Ash nodded, knowing she probably looked as dismal as she felt.

"Follow me."

From then on, Ash was one servant to a Howard Stone.

* * *

He'd been pleased with her when he found out she was a good cook. And when she wasn't too bad at cleaning and learned to do it with a little more finesse, he'd praised her. In a sick way, Ash had actually practically preened at that, glad for something positive for once.

"We're going to have a party soon. My nephew will be there –Steven Stone. Would you like to meet him?" Howard brushed her hair, taking pleasure from the simple act.

Steven Stone was Hoenn's Champion, she remembered. She'd always wanted to meet him.

She could feel herself getting excited, but she tried not to let it be shown or to let herself feel it at all. But…

"Could I?" she asked, her voice quiet. Even though she'd gained more use over her voice, she hadn't felt confident or the will to speak up anymore.

Howard smiled slightly at her. "But of course. You've been such a good girl. I will only have you set up a few things before the party, and then when you're done you may retire to a room and wait. Wear whatever you'd like."

He'd, as rewards, given her some nice dresses to wear outside of her work uniform. Ash accepted them (not really for or against them), having lost any caring for anything long before.

When the time came, Ash helped out where she could, and was even in charge of making the cake for dessert. She got excited for that, even though in the back of her mind she remembered who she was and what she was doing there.

By the time she fully remembered and it had settled in, the party was in full swing and she'd dressed herself in a simple but pretty lavender dress, crying into her hands while she sat in the room assigned to her.

She wasn't even a real servant. She wasn't hired or paid like the others. She'd just been bought off a market, and taken in by some man who could tell her to do whatever he wanted. If she was going to be bought, why couldn't Miranda have just let Cyrus buy her –

"Are you alright, love?"

Her head shot up and she stared at the intruder, knowing the face immediately from all of the tabloids and media his face was plastered on. Steven Stone was as handsome as he was in pictures and on TV, with light steel blue hair and his pale turquoise eyes.

He smiled a little at her. "Hello, I'm Steven. My uncle pointed me this way. Are you okay? You were crying."

Ash wiped at her eyes and gave him a trembling smile. "I-I'm fine," she answered, still quiet.

"You don't look fine," Steven's smile became sad as he came over. "Want to talk about it?"

Ash didn't really think Howard would appreciate her telling his nephew that she was miserable being there as the man's servant. So she shook her head instead and Steven reluctantly nodded.

"What's your name?" he asked her, coming closer to her even more.

She couldn't help the involuntary flinch or how she instinctively tensed up. He slowed down, but didn't stop until he was at an arm's length from her.

"My name is Ash," she told him though.

"Well, Ash, why are you here and not out there enjoying the party?" his smile lightened up and he tried to maintain a friendly atmosphere.

"I just finished work and Howard said I can go rest," she answered him unsurely, because she wasn't fully sure how to answer his question. Howard hadn't exactly said she couldn't attend the party, but she felt uncomfortable doing so.

Steven's eyebrows flew up. "You work for my uncle?"

Giving a hesitant nod, she watched as Steven bit his lip.

"Stay here, alright? I'll be right back," Steven left her, only to come back quickly with a wine bottle and two glasses. "Have you ever had wine before?"

She remembered she mostly had it to cook with, like all those times with Siebold. But she couldn't really remember drinking it for real. Shaking her head, Steven then opened the bottle and then poured some into both glasses, handing one to her.

"Then drink up," he gave her a wider, cheerful grin, and toasted to her. She hesitantly clinked her glass against his and then took an experimental sip. Finding she liked the taste, she started to drink more.

It was nice and felt so normal as she talked to Steven after that, going to everything from the pokémon he had to how was being a champion.

And if afterwards, they slow danced and he quietly and unquestioningly let her cry into his neck while she clutched onto him and he held onto her, then maybe she didn't have to be so lost and such a mess.

Started 9/10/15 – Completed 9/10/15


	14. Melting Point

Ash blearily opened her eyes, waking up slowly. She felt tired –not really physically, but just drained. It didn't feel like she'd ever get home. And when she found times she could be happy, those times were snatched away from her. And the fact is, after everything she'd gone through…

It just all made her feel tired. Just tired and weary of everything.

That was like her default setting these days. She noted it so much because, in whatever part of her that still cared, she was realizing that she was losing bits of herself every day, and that she no longer seemed capable of happiness or of being the same carefree girl she used to be. Even in the days with Cyrus, she could see it all ebbing away from her.

She hadn't wanted to change so much, to not lose herself in the face of these people, but it seemed she failed and she didn't even care enough.

"Ash?"

Blinking back tears, she turned and found that Steven was still there, and also just waking up. She smiled slightly, noting the makeshift pillow bed they'd made on the floor and had camped out together on. She remembered the night before and how she hadn't wanted to talk, so instead he talked to her and spoke about himself, his own worries, and whatever came to mind.

"Ash, your back is red…" he noted in worry, and she winced.

Her back had scabbed over and hadn't fully healed as much as she wished it would, so likely sleeping on her back the night before had aggravated them and opened up a few of her wounds.

"I-it's nothing," she'd stuttered, but he'd already reached over and lightly touched her back, the blood seeping through the fabric to stain his fingers.

His eyes widened. "Ash, your back is bleeding really bad! We have to tell Uncle. He'll get you help –"

"You can't!" she stopped him, feeling panicked.

"Why not?" he demanded, but then he looked into her eyes. He got a sinking feeling in his gut. All that talk from the League, and that meeting…"Is my uncle a trafficker?!"

"No," she immediately said, because even though Howard bought her, he wasn't that low of a person. She thought so at least. "He…he bought me. One of the traffickers drove me here from Sinnoh, and your uncle was a buyer. He hasn't been mean to me or anything."

Howard hadn't been cruel to her. Worked her hard and sometimes made her uncomfortable, mostly with the way he'd stare at her or let his touch linger too long –but he hadn't done anything.

That didn't seem to make things any better for Steven, who looked infuriated. He stood up from the floor, looking ready to storm downstairs to confront his uncle, when who appeared but Howard himself. The door opened, and Howard walked through it, looking at Steven in surprise.

"Oh, Steven, you're still here?"

"'Still here?' Is that all you have to say for yourself?" Steven yelled at him. "Did you do that?"

Howard glanced at her, noticing the blood that was soaking through the dress she still wore. She uncomfortably sat there.

"No," Howard said. "Those were from the brutes back in Sinnoh I bought her from. They haven't fully healed yet, have they?"

"You're not going to even deny it?" Steven reeled back from his uncle's careless admittance.

Howard raised an eyebrow at him. "Why should I? I own her. She's my property. Hadn't you enjoyed her last night? She was my gift to you for defending your title once more, while a reward for her for her hard work."

Steven moved back as if he'd been struck, before looking at her horrified. Her hands clenched on her knees, but she didn't look at either of them.

"She's not staying here," Steven recovered as much as he could, saying that firmly.

"And you're going to take her from me?" Howard demanded skeptically.

"Yes," Steven growled, taking a threatening step towards his uncle. "By force, if necessary."

"She's not going anywhere."

Just as Howard headed Ash's way, Steven cut him off and delivered a punch to his uncle's jaw. Howard didn't go down however, retaliating easily with his own fist.

"Ash, get out of here!" Steven yelled at her, grappling with his uncle. "I'll keep him busy, just go!"

Ash hesitated for only a moment, before she shot up onto her feet and ran out of the room. She didn't stop until she'd pushed her legs to get her out of the manor and far away from it as possible. However, the more and more she ran closer and further into the city, she noted how much she was surrounded by water. She didn't know where in Hoenn she was, and she hated how lost she was again.

Feeling woozy, she stopped and swayed on her feet for a moment. Head pounding and her back screaming in pain and feeling sticky, Ash passed out right then and there.

* * *

Steven wiped his mouth, glaring down at his unconscious uncle. He called the police as he ran downstairs, but looking around he found no sign of Ash anywhere. Seeing the door opened, he guessed that she had run out of the manor and he worriedly hoped she was okay. He'd just been about to go after her when he was waylaid by the police having arrived. Frustrated, he led them to his uncle and explained what had happened.

While his uncle was arrested and was taken away, he was attesting to his uncle having purchased Ash and giving Officer Jenny his statement. She stopped when she mentioned Ash's name though.

"You said her name was Ash?" Officer Jenny looked tired. Nodding at her, she then took out a photo and held it up to him. "She look like this?"

The photo was exactly her, albeit younger and happier looking.

"Yes, that's her," he confirmed.

She sighed. "That's Ash Ketchum."

And suddenly it clicked just who he had been comforting. The girl Giovanni Rocketto had vehemently claimed to be looking for, that one faithful League meeting.

He swallowed heavily. "She might still be around here. I don't think she got far, especially with her back as damaged as it was. You should look out for her. I'll do the same, but I'm going to try to contact Giovanni first. Let him know."

Officer Jenny nodded and left him to it, and Steven sat down on Ash's former bed, putting his head in his hands.

* * *

She felt the droplets before she opened her eyes, to know rain was falling onto her. The sensation felt cool and soothing against her, and it almost felt like the skies were crying for her.

Why did she feel so alone?

When she felt a hand grasp her thigh, her eyes rapidly opened to find a man leaning over her. He squeezed her thigh.

"Why are yer on the floor, honey?" he slurred.

Alarmed, Ash shoved at the man and tried to get on her feet to run, but he'd grabbed her ankles and yanked, causing her to slam back onto the concrete. Her head and back hurting from the impact, it had taken her a bit to refocus, only for the man to have grabbed at her front, ripping her dress downwards, and slightly exposing herself to him. She screamed and struggled, but his weight was heavy on her and she was still disoriented and distracted by the pain she was in.

All of a sudden she saw a shadow over both of them, and the man over her was hit over the head with an umbrella swung by a lean man in burgundy and black, his glasses glinting slightly from a light reflecting against it.

"How brutish," the man said primly. "You don't treat a woman that way."

He looked over at her and his red eyebrows furrowed. "Are you alright, Miss?"

Ash trembled and tried to sit up, but she cried out in pain. Alerted to that, the man straightened up and called out to someone.

"Tabitha! Bring around the car."

He then bent down and gently tried to grab her, careful not to jostle her as he held her in his arms. Already, he could feel the blood seeping from her and into his clothes, and he wondered what had happened.

Ash, meanwhile, breathed in his scent as she heaved in heavy breaths –the smell of smoke and ash coating him.

She was so unfocused, she didn't realize that she'd been carried to a car and then driven to an unknown location, or even as she was brought to some sort of medical facility and had her dirty and bloodstained dress removed from her body.

If the man hissed at the sight of her back, then she said nothing and didn't notice. And if, when she was taken away, did he fully absorbed the fact –as he looked down and observed his blood and rain soaked clothes –she couldn't tell anyone that she had caught on to his rather horrified reaction. In fact, she'd become so numb to anything that she basically blocked it all out.

But he couldn't.

"Sir?"

He was no stranger to violence and blood, but even as the boss of Team Magma, he'd never seen anything like this. It disturbed him deeply, but he wasn't prepared to let anyone see him in this manner.

"Tabitha," he heard himself faintly. "Go make sure that a room is prepared for her stay, if she wishes to after her recovery. I also highly doubt she'd like to stay and recover fully in the medical bay anyway."

"…Yes, Maxie. Right away."

"And make sure that scum back on the street is delivered straight to the police station, with a note on what he did. I'm not sure if they can hold him without evidence, but at least he'll be off the streets."

Maxie wasn't happy about that solution, but he could see no other way for now. Sootopolis City may not be as easily connected with the other cities, but at least because of it's hard to navigate area, it would be hard for any criminals to run away. Not that that applied to himself or his Team of course.

Sighing, Maxie turned to go remove his soiled clothes and take a shower, trying to take his mind off of the newest happening.

But he couldn't stop thinking about the girl, what was her story, and what could she mean to him and his Team in the future.

And (to his bewilderment), he couldn't help note that her eyes were a most peculiar feature on her, and that a part of him found her liken to a pretty but delicate flower.

The shock of it all must be getting to him.

* * *

When Ash awoke, she knew she was on pain medication because she felt groggy and not fully clear of the fog in her head. She also quickly noted the man sitting by her side, and the same man who had helped her that rainy moment.

"Good afternoon," he spoke politely. "I am Maximilian Matsubusa, leader of Team Magma. You may call me Maxie."

She almost was tempted to laugh at her luck. Yet another regional Team! Ironically, she kept running into them and they also kept becoming her saviors of sorts. More and more the irony of the situation that was her life, made her want to hysterically laugh and cry.

The Teams were the bad guys. They had always been the villains of the story, where everyone called on them to face justice for their crimes. And yet, every time, Ash found herself feeling more and more grateful to them.

If none of them had been there and had helped her, she wondered what would have happened to her. Would she have already been killed by then?

She wet her lips. "M-my," her throat was parched and still not that usable, and so made it hard to speak. "My name is Ash," she tried again, her voice quiet as it had been lately.

'Maxie' took a container from the side and poured her some water. She accepted it thankfully.

"Do you have anywhere to go, or anyone to go to?" he asked her.

Ash thought about that. Where could she go? Miranda was still out there, she was still in pain and scared of the world, and airports had been drilled as a bad idea into her head. Traffickers practically scoured that place as a hunting ground. And the police? She wasn't deaf and had heard that any one of them could be accomplices or working with the traffickers, and even higher ups in the world could be guilty.

She felt essentially trapped.

That's why she shook her head, answering Maxie in the negative. The red headed man gave a thoughtful hum.

"If you wish, you may stay with us. I will take you in, so long as you join my Team," he offered her, and she nodded tiredly.

What other choice did she have anyway?

* * *

She healed a little more fully after a month, though her back was still tender. He had noted the medical advice for her not to strain herself, though she did insist on getting to work somehow (and being useful). He gave her light, menial tasks (mostly tailing him around and organizing papers and data, etc.), though to make her feel better about the small tasks, he made sure to give her plenty and make her feel busy.

But he couldn't shake the thought of how beautiful and oddly haunting she was. Perhaps it was the haunted look in her eyes, accompanied by the tired air she walked around with, but a part of him felt as if she was older than her years, and somehow more experienced of the world than she should be of her age.

What was her age anyway? Or what was even her favorite color? Nothing about her had been revealed yet, and she wouldn't talk too much about herself. Maxie hardly knew a thing about her. He just found her beautiful, even with all that. Or even because of.

He was tempted to seduce her, and had been steadily working his way into a seduction truthfully. He'd been careful not to overdo it though, remembering how they first met in the first place –what with that bastard of a man tainting her views of the world and men. However, he wasn't one to simply give up or to not try, or look for whatever best method he could that would work things in his favor. This endeavor was definitely worth it, and he would be determined to see it through.

And hopefully earn his way to her, and get her into his arms and bed.

"We'll be heading to the Cave of Origin," he informed her on one of her better days. "There, some of the others have been working on something you might be interested in. It'll be a treat for you," he smiled thinly.

She nodded distractedly, though she did look at him and gave a grateful smile. She said nothing though, but he didn't push her. He was aware that there had been some damage to her vocal cords that were still healing, and that she wasn't to strain her voice anyhow. Still, part of him knew that she didn't speak for more reasons than the physical damage done to her throat, and also understood it was something she didn't feel like 'talking' about, even without use of her voice.

He had his burgundy Magma coat on, and led the way to a car that he would drive personally. As she traveled beside him, he admitted he saw and liked the way the rouge female Magma uniform fit her and looked good on her. It made a possessive thrum run through him.

"What do you know of the Legendaries Groudon and Kyogre?" he asked her suddenly.

She looked at him in surprise. "Um, I know that Groudon is an ancient pokémon that created the land mass of the world and formed the continents. Kyogre likewise, but with expanding the ocean."

"Correct," he gave her another smile. They reached the car, and he gentlemanly opened her side and helped her in. Then he went to the driver's side and got in, starting the car quickly before he went to address her again. "The goal of Team Magma is to awaken Groudon and create more landmass, specifically to create more habitats for land pokémon by lowering the sea level. Oppositely, our rivals of Team Aqua wish to do the reverse with Kyogre for aquatic pokémon."

She was listening attentively, if looking a bit hesitant and slightly confused.

"That's nice of you," she said sincerely, and he almost looked at her in amusement, right until she continued though. "What happens to all the sea pokémon though? They'll be okay, right?"

Maxie stared at her, hiding his surprise and uneasiness. He didn't actually have an answer for her, and thankfully didn't have to since they'd finally arrived.

"We're here," he announced.

He parked the car and got her out, before leading into the Cave of Origin, and right where the group of Magma grunts were overseeing Kyogre's containment.

"Amazing, yes?" Maxie looked upon it with smug superiority. "Such a powerful being. And we managed to awaken and then catch it. We'll end up with Groudon soon for sure."

Hearing no reply, his smug smirk faded as he turned to look at her, only to see her gazing at the Legendary with sorrowful eyes.

"He looks sad," she murmured.

He turned and glanced at it. "How do you know that?"

' _Because I always am,'_  she wanted to say but didn't, and he could only continue to speculate.

Hearing nothing once more, he glanced back at her before looking at it –he –more closely, and frowned deeply.

"Yes…yes, he does look sad, doesn't he?"

The uneasiness grew and inwardly he felt a twinge of remorse for caging such a wondrous and ancient being. He had never…thought too much about his plans affecting others, and he couldn't but feel uncomfortable doing so now.

At that moment, Kyogre began to thrash a bit and Maxie pulled her farther away, retreating from the ancient pokémon.

"Get the Blue Orb!" Maxie snapped at someone. "Calm it down!"

As he did so though, he only barely noticed Ash slipping away from him, and didn't notice until she was well on her way to Kyogre how far away she was from him and how too close she was to the upset pokémon. He rushed after her, but she'd already reached it, laying her hands on the pokémon's head gently.

"Shh," she hummed at him. "It's okay. I'll be sad with you."

Slowly, to Maxie's amazement (and unknowingly, to everyone else watching as well), Kyogre began to calm under her touch and murmurs.

"'Cause you and I, we were born to die~" she sung quietly to Kyogre. She caressed his head. "We  _are_  born to die, aren't we?" she asked the pokémon sadly. "Maybe this is why things have happened this way."

She felt hands gently grip her arms and lead her away from the now calm Kyogre, but she continued to look back at the contained pokémon with sad eyes.

When they were at the car, Maxie brought her into his arms and let her just rest there, knowing she didn't want to see anything else or talk to anyone.

* * *

Ash had worked hard for Team Magma. Not only because she was a hard worker, but she felt indebted to Maxie for helping her and taking her in. So when she finds him at his desk, sleeping sometimes and with his glasses still perched on his nose (she liked him wearing them; they made him look less stern and even a little dorky), she would do her best to make him comfortable, take off his glasses, and put a blanket around him.

And when he had her working with him, she always made sure to do her best and work hard for him. Even at the times when he assigned her to work with Tabitha and Courtney in the Cave of Origin with Kyogre, she still did her best, even though she really wanted to help Kyogre instead.

"Thinking too much, little girl," a metal can was lightly thumped onto her head, and she pouted as she looked up as the can was moved away.

Tabitha grinned at her as he held two cans of soda, one of which he handed to her.

"Was I?" she asked curiously.

She knew she could be transparent, but she had never really taken note of it before. She supposed that was just how she was though. Everyone else tended to make mention of it, and she realized that she really didn't hide how she felt about anything usually.

Ash shrugged at him with a small grin. "Thanks for the soda," she said instead. "Do you know when Courtney is coming? I want to be gone before she is –she said something about being bored around here and wanting to paint nails. And you know –we're in a cave."

Tabitha barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Nah, kid. She comes as she goes. Flitters around without a care, that woman."

"I do not!" Courtney suddenly appeared on them, slapping Tabitha's head and glaring at him. She turned to Ash. "Raincheck on that nail paint though. Maxie wanted to see you. Here, take the car."

The older female tossed the keys at Ash, who sat up straight and fumbled to catch them. Once secure in her hands, Ash felt trepidation and excitement. She'd never driven a car before. She didn't really even have a license, though she was now at the age where she could have tested for her permit at least.

"Okay," she answered Courtney and gripped the keys in her hands tightly.

Her first driving experience…

In the car, Ash tried to remember how she usually saw Maxie, Tabitha, or Courtney started. After buckling in, Ash pressed down on the brake, and put the keys in and turned it on. She shifted into drive and removed the emergency brake, and then she started.

Only to almost go forward and hit a wall.

Sheepishly reminded that she had to back out first, she shifted gear to reverse and slowly backed out. After which, she shifted back to drive and cautiously drove back to base.

She reached the base happily, and having felt accomplished. She was so proud of it, that she practically ran to where Maxie's office was to tell him. Bursting through his door and startling him, she practically blabbed it out.

"You've never driven before?" he asked when she was done. Shaking her head, he looked at her in bemusement after her answer.

"Good job then," he told her, though inwardly glad she hadn't wrecked the car, and even more glad she didn't get hurt.

She then fidgeted shyly under his gaze. "Courtney said you wanted to see me?"

Maxie hesitated, but nodded. "Yes, there was something I wanted to ask you…"

She straightened up and waited for him patiently, wondering what was wrong.

"Do you like me, Ash?" he asked suddenly, slowly reaching over and brushing a strand of Ash's hair behind her ear.

She looked at him in shock, before biting her lip. She still didn't speak much, but she thought this deserved a long, thought-out answer. And she remembered all the others –Giovanni, who in her dreams always came to save her, Cyrus who had been so kind and sweet to her despite how he was…

There was Maximus and Pikachu, who she missed dearly, and Malva and Lysandre who had promised to make everything beautiful for her. She thought of Siebold who had taken care of her, of Colress who she now knew had been infatuated with her. There was Serena, who she hadn't managed to reassure that none of it was her fault. And there was everyone else.

There was even Sammy and her mother, who she felt fading from her memory day after day…

So she ended up with no words to answer Maxie, only feeling as if who knew how long this lasted, and when she could be safe and happy again –and she ended up answering him by leaning on her toes and pressing her lips to his.

The one thing she had learned above all was to treasure every moment and make the best of what she had, because she knew nothing lasted forever and she had to take whatever happiness she could get, for however fleeting it would be.

Though Maxie had been caught off guard, he regained himself and kissed her back, letting his tongue trace her lips before entering as they parted for him. His hands, which had ached to touch her, gripped her waist, before sliding under her uniform’s top. His palms pressed against her breasts, kneading them and warming them with his touch. He moved his lips to her jaw and kissed it tenderly, moving up to reach her ear and nibble on her lobe.

Hearing her gasp, he smiled against her. He wondered at how her hands were so sure, tracing over his body over his clothes, but he didn’t ask her then. Instead, he began to remove her skirt and let it drop to the ground around her boots, at the same time as she echoed him and reached for his pants. His burgundy slacks fell to his Oxfords, and he inhaled sharply as her slender hand cupped him through his boxers, massaging gently.

“Ash,” he groaned, before gripping the hem of her top and lifting it up, removing it from her.

Skirt around her boots, decked in only baby blue underwear, and her top gone as her face was flushed and her hair tousled, she made quite the picture for him.

Feeling impatient, he yanked his signature coat off of himself, and removed the garnet-colored turtleneck in a hurry. He stepped out of his shoes and socks so that his pants could be fully removed as well, and he watched from the corner of his eye as Ash did the same with the rest of her clothing. Leaving his boxers on while he went to retrieve the lube, he found it quickly and removed his boxers then, slathering himself with a thick coating of the liquid. He walked back to her, seeing her watching him with hauntingly beautiful honey eyes and a small smile that tinged with sadness, like usual.

He didn’t want her sad. He wanted to make her as happy as possible.

So he gently lay her onto her back on his carpeted floor, kissing her reassuringly as his fingers traced down her stomach and to her opening, playing with her folds and parting them. He rubbed at them a bit, letting her juices soak his fingers, and then probing two of them into her. Hearing her whimper and her eyes roll, Maxie made sure that she felt good the entire time he was thrusting his fingers into her. After a while, he put a little more lube on himself and his fingers, spreading her open even more in preparation for him.

And then he put his cock to her pussy and eased in, feeling himself breathe in deeply at the feeling of her surrounding him and gripping him tightly.

“Maxie,” she breathed out, and he looked down at her to see her watching him from underneath half-lidded eyes.

He swallowed. “Ash,” he murmured back, and then he started to move.

He took it slowly, and she clasped her legs around his back and pulled him in deeper. His dick brushed against her insides every moment, and she made all sorts of sounds that were driving him crazy.

“F-faster, please! More,” she moaned, and he closed his eyes to that, savoring the moment even as he did speed up.

He could see, as he thrust in and out of her, her breasts moving hypnotically to the rhythm of his thrusting, and he couldn’t help as he reached a hand down and played with one, squeezing and molding it to his hand as he fucked her faster and began to go harder into her.

She cried out and spasmed, her pussy contracting around him as she came. In return, Maxie shoved in and out a few more times, feeling himself close. After yet another hard thrust, he came with a groan. He slumped over her and gathered her into his arms.

Afterwards, he wondered at the girl panting and shivering in his arms, clutching him as tightly as he clutched onto her.

* * *

She breathed in and out, mostly breathing in through her nostrils as she was busy panting through her mouth, unable to really breathe that way. He pounded into her, and she felt herself grip the edge of his desk and dig her nails into the wood, the nail paint that Courtney did on them chipping a bit at the action.

" _No good waste."_

The words from Miranda came back to bother her. She had repeatedly taunted Ash, and she admitted that it had left their own marks on her, as much as Miranda's lashes did. Like now…

Did Maxie really care for her? Was this all just sex? Did he see her?

" _You're such trash now, princess! Who'd want you like this?"_

Ash closed her eyes and refused to cry.

She had felt like this almost immediately after the first time. Even though Maxie had held her gently, she hadn't been sure and she had started to have creeping doubts about her own worth and what he saw her as. Her insecurities came out full force in the weeks in which they began their relationship, and nothing said or done by anyone was making them go away.

" _My, my, princess. I don't think anyone would even want to buy you at this rate."_

Ash bit her lip enough to draw blood, and she buried her face against the desk in an effort to not cry.

She couldn't  _not_  feel shame. It felt like it had crawled under her skin and was determinedly staying there. Every time she looked in her mirror, she hated looking at herself. Every time Maxie whispered things into her ear, she wanted to block them out because she didn't believe them or him.

She was becoming more and more miserable, and she just couldn't make herself stop.

"Ash? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said shakily, still against the desk even though he'd stopped. "I'm fine," she muffled her voice against the wood.

He tentatively started to move again, and she tried to block Miranda's voice from her head.

* * *

Ash settled her chin on her folded arms, watching Maxie as he slept in what was now their bed. She blinked tiredly, watching the harsh lines on his face softened as he rested. The warmth of his body was easily accessible, but she kept her distance.

If she left, would he miss her? Would it make any difference if she were to up and leave?

She felt deluded every time she entertained the thought that he would care, that he would come chasing after her like she mattered. But she doubted it. If she left, nothing would really change.

She slipped out of the bed and sat on a chair nearby, folding her knees and holding her legs to herself. She hid her face against her thighs.

Maybe it was time for her to go.

Sniffling slightly, she rubbed at her eyes and then got up to put on some clothes. She slowly packed some things into a bag, and wrote a quick note to Maxie, feeling he deserved that much. Hell, he probably deserved a lot more than her at least.

She left and headed out of the base, only to head to the Cave of Origin first. There, she gazed at the sad pokémon with her own sad eyes, and caressed his head.

After this, Maxie wouldn't want to keep her anyway.

She moved away, only to hear a cautious voice behind her.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" Tabitha called out, and Ash turned halfway to face him.

He didn't know what was wrong, but Ash had steadily gone from a cheerful, if slightly morose, girl –to someone who looked ready to cry at any moment but was determined not to. She always smiled at everyone, but these days it was tinged with even more sadness. She seemed to be in a daze as she worked through the day, and her relationship with Maxie –quiet and not obvious enough for everyone to know, but enough for he and Courtney to deduce –seemed rocky.

Despite Courtney's personal concerns over it, he could tell Maxie really did care for her. And he could see that Ash cared back, but for some reason was distancing herself.

"I'm going away," Ash suddenly answered him, her voice scarily hollow.

Panicked, Tabitha walked quickly from the controls to her. "What do you mean 'going away?'" he demanded from her.

Tears then poured from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and making him freeze in place.

"Please let me go," she whispered, and she looked at him like that and he felt unable to say or do anything.

She slipped away from him like a ghost, and headed to where the controls were. She looked at him and he realized what she was going to do. He gave her a nod.

For a while now, none of them had felt certain or right keeping Kyogre locked up there.

She pressed a few buttons, and the great pokémon was released, immediately escaping into the waters that led out of the cave.

And just as quick as the pokémon, so had she disappeared.

Started 9/15/15 – Completed 9/16/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Maxie's Clothes: I decided I would go with Maxie's new design (reluctantly), but I had to change it up somehow. I combined it a bit with his original, by using the darker red (burgundy) of the original, and also pants instead of those ridiculous shorts. And regular shoed, instead of those boots. The new Magma uniform is being used for everyone else though.
> 
> 2\. The Regions' Legends: Please continue to look at and review my stories there! Link's on my profile and the stories I'm in charge of is the "The Book of Eve," "The Book of Mal," and "Kitty Claws."


	15. Karmic Voyage

Her fingers cramped while her arms ached, but she continued her climb. Her clothes were kind of wet too, but it couldn't be helped. Having needed to dive through some waters and climb some areas, Sootoplis City was proving really hard for Ash to navigate. Her back still stung a little, but everything had healed over, so at least it wasn't a bleeding mess anymore (or wouldn't be).

And, to be honest, she was really depressed as well.

After a while, she realized she was near the sea, and she could see the vast waters before her. It was beautiful, and with a sad air, she had the urge to just walk towards it and keep walking into the water, hoping it would embrace her.

She really was useless and pathetic. It was a good thing she left Maxie before she dragged him down with her.

Maybe she really should just head towards the waters…

The cold metal of a gun was pressed obviously against her head.

"Funny finding you here," Howard Stone's voice croaked out, and she turned to see him looking unlike his usual clean and proper self. His suit was rumpled and dirty, and his hair was matted to his skin.

She cringed back, and looked at him fearfully. "W-what happened to Steven?"

"Don't you worry about him," Howard muttered. He gestured for her to get up. "We're going to meet up with a group. They're going to help us get out of here. And don't think about running away from me."

For a second, she did contemplate it. She eyed the gun, wondering if he'd shoot her. Maybe she wanted him to.

"Hurry it up, Miss Ketchum. We're on a tight schedule."

Her head snapped up to face him, looking at him with wide eyes.

"How did you know my name?" she gasped, since she'd never spoken her last name to anyone.

He smirked slightly. "The police talked about you, when I was getting arrested. They were whispering about how you'd just been there and they'd almost got to rescuing you. Oh? You didn't know they were looking for you?" he laughed lightly, as he saw her surprised look. "Well, they are. Hearing that and your name, made me remember a certain League meeting. I'm on the League Board, so I was able to attend the meeting from the Hoenn charter. Imagine, to my surprise, Giovanni Rocketto lecturing us all about the traffickers. He'd even swore that he'd look for an Ash Ketchum no matter what –and hearing your name from the police officers made it click in my head. You are that very girl Giovanni's been looking for."

Ash was in shock. Even after all these years, Giovanni remembered her and now he was even looking for her. She suddenly felt a surge of happiness and determination.

She wasn't done yet. She could still be herself. She wouldn't let anyone take everything from her. Now she just had to find a way out of this situation she was in.

"Where are we going?" she asked shakily as Howard gestured for her to get up again with the gun.

"We'll be meeting with a group of the traffickers. They're using a ship to get around, and will be heading to Slateport. We need to leave  _now_ ," Howard grabbed her as soon as she got up. He then started yanking her towards a direction quickly.

Ash kept quiet, but internally she was readying herself for an escape attempt. Giovanni hadn't given up on her after all this time. She wouldn't give up on herself either. Not again.

* * *

The ship was large. Ash could see the ship's name on the side, titling the S.S. Aqua. She spotted various people around, a lot of them wearing an odd combination of white and blue striped shirts and canvas leggings. Their strange sashes and black ankle-length boots were only matched by the odd bandanas covering their heads and with a stitched blue symbol onto the front of it.

Her observations were cut off as Howard yanked her closer, hiding the gun as it continued to press against her side. She stayed quiet as she was dragged towards a man, who Howard had a whispered conversation with. He gestured at her with his chin, and the man looked her over. Another exchange of words had the man nodding and letting them through, and she knew once she was on the ship, there was no escaping or going back.

"Be good, and act like the obedient girl you were before my nephew got it in his head to 'rescue' you," Howard muttered into her ear.

She nodded her head, tensed but also desperately looking everywhere. There was nothing. But she just needed to bide her time, that was all. She had to be patient. She boarded the ship with Howard, and forced herself to even her breaths. She had to be calm and focused. She could do this.

Ash would get back to Kanto.

"Now that we're on the ship, I expect you to continue to serve me as you did back at my home," Howard told her, once he'd led her to what she assumed was his assigned room. "Be good. I can be kind to you, as I was before all this," his severe look lightened, and he reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears.

Her breath caught in her chest.

"Your hair's gotten so long," he noted quietly. "It used to be around your shoulders, and now it's gotten to your lower back…"

She tried not to shy away, but she couldn't help flinching as Howard reached out and grasped her head. He pulled her to him, making her climb onto his lap and straddle him, and then kissed her forcefully.

If what happened with Howard then happened, she would just remember Maxie and Cyrus. Remember how they touched her, how they kissed her, how they made sure she was happy and felt good each time.

Most of all, as Howard pulled her onto the bed, she would remember how kind they were to her.

* * *

A week onto the ship and Howard was letting her out more and more. To her consternation, there was plenty of traffickers around and she was afraid any one of them would see her and recognize her, and then take her from Howard and bring her back to Tobias. Even if she didn't care for Howard either, especially now that he'd taken to sleeping with her, at least he was the lesser evil between he and Tobias.

Even if she had never slept with Tobias, there was something about him and being around him that was so much worse than being with anyone else, even Miranda.

Suddenly, she bumped into a firm chest. When she looked up, a stocky, burly man stared down at her in bewilderedness. She shied away, quite intimidated by his appearance and gruff attitude. Aside from his physical appearance, his clothes also was like the ones she saw of some of the 'workers' around the ship, wearing a blue and white striped shirt, but with an open collar that showed off his chest. His pants were long enough that she couldn't see if he wore leggings like the others, but his boots were taller than the ankle-length ones everyone else wore. He also wore a bandana covering his head like the others, alongside a large, golden medallion with a pretty stone set into it.

"Hey there, lassie. What are you doing, running around?" he asked, his voice as gruff as his looks.

"I-I," she stuttered, unsure what to say. Her stomach growled, answering for her. She winced at that.

However, it just made him burst out in boisterous laughter. He grinned down at her.

"Well, well. If you were hungry, you should have just said so."

One of his hands clasped down on her shoulder, and he began steering her away from Howard's room. She had only taken just a few steps outside of it, before she'd run into this man. Looking back worriedly, she hoped that Howard didn't get upset at her disappearance.

Finding that she'd been led to the kitchens, he'd sat her down at a table and then headed over to the large, metal refrigerators. He began gathering ingredients, while she stayed silent.

"What's your name, luv?" he asked casually as he set himself up.

"It's Ash," she said quietly.

"Ash, eh? I'm Archie," he told her, throwing her a grin over his shoulder. "Nice to meet you."

For the rest of the time as he cooked, he concentrated on it while she kept to herself. And then, after, he proudly presented some type of sandwich to her.

"There you go! A crab sandwich, lass. Enjoy it, alright?"

Intrigued, she hesitantly took the plate and smelled the dish. It did smell wonderful.

"Never had a crab sandwich before?" he asked, taking his own sandwich and biting into it messily.

She shook her head, experimentally taking her own bite. It was really good.

"Thank you," she politely told him. "It's delicious."

"No need to be so quiet and polite, lassie!" he laughed loudly, patting her on the back. "Despite despising it, I'm happy you ate it at all. But don't you be forcing yourself!"

"I don't despise it," she ended up pouting. "I do like it! I swear, you big lug!" she ended up calling him, playfully hitting his shoulder. But then she realized what she said and did, and looked at him fearfully.

Only, it all seemed to have amused Archie instead and he was guffawing.

"Cute, girl! You sure are a feisty one!"

She started to slowly, shyly smile at him, until a throat cleared and her head whipped towards that direction, finding Howard watching her with a blank face. She stood up in a hurry and bowed.

"Thank you for the food," she said, before going to Howard's side.

He was quick to grab her arm tightly. He nodded towards Archie, before pulling her away and moving outside.

"I'm sorry," she bit her bottom lip.

"Were you hungry?" he asked in a short tone.

She flinched but nodded.

"Next time tell me, and I will make sure you are provided sustenance," he said, but he didn't strike her or hurt her in any way.

That relieved her at least, though she knew he was still upset. But she could count on Howard to not hurt her in any way, minus forcibly taking her to bed.

"It's late," he grunted as he shoved his door opened. "You've had dinner so let's get to bed."

At that, Ash felt herself deflate and want to dig her heels in. But she didn't since she knew she had to try to keep Howard happy for the moment.

* * *

Archie hadn't seen that girl in a while. It was bothering him a bit, especially after seeing the way that pompous bastard had practically barely manhandled her away from Archie and to somewhere else. She was a sweet, petite thing. All doe-eyed and grinning doll that she was.

He still wasn't sure how she'd gotten onto his ship or why, but the man who'd hired him and his Team to travel on his ship and to carry some cargo had said she was with him and the pretentious fop.

Something in his gut bothered him, had been since he'd accepted this job, but now had worsened after meeting that girl named Ash.

"Shit," he muttered, scowling to himself as he rubbed his goatee.

"Something the matter, Archie?" Shelly, his faithful first mate, raised an eyebrow at him.

The voluptuous, exotic woman leaned into his space, scrutinizing his face. He waved her off irritably, and she huffed as she flipped her dark, wavy hair over her shoulder.

"Geez, I was just trying to be worried about you."

"For once," he snarked. "Do me a favor and don't. You'll give me a heart attack."

"Down to the depths to you, you bloody bastard!" she glared at him. "See if I care!"

"Why, you wench!"

"Are you two fighting again?" Matt interrupted them, the tall dark-skinned man frowning at them.

The two sheepishly looked at him and shrugged in unison.

"Yeah…I was just going to say to you, Boss, that those people we took on seemed a might bit shady," Matt said instead, choosing to ignore his boss and his teammate's behavior.

Archie threw his hands up. "I knew it! I'm not the only one," he crowed in triumph. "I thought so too. And we should know shady, eh? With who we are."

Then he realized someone else thought what he did, and he went back to being uneasy.

"Look, you two," his serious tone further added to his previous statements, causing the two to earnestly listen. "I haven't felt alright with those people on board. And this girl I met, she's with one of them. After meeting her, that gut feeling told me that something ain't right."

"What are we going to do about that, Boss?" Shelly asked him.

He thought about that. "Nothing for now. Keep quiet and a lookout for anything. I'm going to go see if I can find that girl again, and get her to say anything."

Archie wasn't liking the way things were, and he knew that girl was the key somehow.

* * *

Ash was glad it was night. She was glad that everyone else seemed to be quiet and in bed. She was also glad that Howard was a heavy sleeper and that she'd managed to leave him behind.

Now she had time to check out that cargo box that had been brought aboard by the traffickers.

Doing her best to be as stealthy as possible, she managed to make her way to the cargo box's locked opening, thinking on how to open the chained and padlocked doors.

"Looking for something, girlie?"

Gasping, Ash whirled around and found herself face to face with Archie. He glanced behind her, and then waved around a metal cutter that he'd previously been resting on his shoulders. He pointed it behind her then.

"Looks like you and I had the same idea tonight," he said lightly. "Wanna step aside, lass?"

Feeling relieved she wasn't going to be in trouble, if still confused, Ash moved out of the way for Archie to step forward and settle the metal cutter onto the chains. He used his brute strength to cut it, and the chains fell away to the ground. The metal cutter was put aside as well, and he then opened the heavy metal doors, his muscles bulging with the effort. The inside was exposed, showing a dark space. Archie took a flashlight from his side and shined it into the inside, showing what was within.

Archie cursed up a storm, his face growing dark as he saw the multitude of people all huddled inside, many of them unconscious, beaten up, or even tied up.

"Shelly, Matt, get your asses in here. And get some grunts in here too!"

All the commotion woke up a bunch of people. Unfortunately, that included a few traffickers, who saw what had been revealed about their operation.

"Hey! You weren't supposed to open that!" the man Ash saw that day at the docks, the one who had been talking to Howard, rushed towards Archie.

Archie struck out quickly, punching the man across the face.

"Wrestle them bastards down and tie 'em up!" Archie ordered to his subordinates. "None of them goes free and roamin' around my ship!"

Ash flinched back when Archie turned back to her, but his tough façade softened for her.

"Hey, lass. Were you taken too?" he asked, his gentleness the opposite of his exterior look and usual tough attitude.

Ash hesitated, but she nodded. "Howard bought me in Sinnoh," she confessed. "But I came from Kanto originally."

Archie scowled and straightened. "Sumbitch," he muttered under his breath. "I knew I didn't like that bastard." He turned back to her and gently took her arms, pulling her closer. "My people are gonna get things straight. Why don't we go to the kitchens and get something to eat, maybe get something ready for these folks once they've been settled into some rooms and take cared of, alright?"

Looking back at the victims, Ash turned back to Archie and nodded. She was glad to be in the kitchen and doing something she was good at, and have something to do to distract her and take her mind off of things. Afterwards, if the chaotic happenings caused her to see things pass in a blur, she really couldn't find it in her to protest Archie leading her to a room that she would later realize was his, and settle her into his bed, tucking her in gently.

She really was sure that he wasn't one to be a gentle person normally…

* * *

Ash awoke to an empty room, and blankets tightly wrapped around her. She felt warm and wanted to continue to snuggle into her bed, but figured she should get up and see where she was. That then made her panic and remember the events of last night, causing her to sit up and have the blankets pool around her.

Glancing around, she noticed how larger the room was compared to the others, and how nice it looked, if still crowded with knickknacks and stuff, and clothes thrown everywhere. With an uneasy feeling, she figured this was the "captain's" quarters, and she bet that the man who was ordering everyone around and who she'd met as Archie,  _was_  the Captain.

Worried, she went outside of the room to hear jeering and chants. Following where all the sounds were, she saw the group of workers from the ship encircling the group of traffickers. Looking as rumpled as the day he'd caught Ash, Howard was also part of the group of traffickers, arms tied up tightly behind him like the rest. At least he was cleaner than then.

"You scallywags are the worst!" the beautiful woman she saw before, briefly remembering her from last night, sneered at the group, tossing a tomato at them.

"Off the plank!" someone else yelled.

And suddenly there was loud echoing of that spread out through the group and she saw Archie appear.

"Shall we make them walk the plank?"

"Let's do it, Archie!"

"Come on, Boss! Throw 'em off!"

"Run 'em off the plank, Captain!"

"W-Wait!" she yelled, but her voice was drowned out by the cacophony of the voices around her. "WAIT!" she screamed.

Everyone else quieted, and soon enough she had everyone staring at her. She cringed and shrunk back, unnerved and nervous at the attention.

"You guys can't," she made herself speak up, though she fidgeted and couldn't help looking down. "It's not right and I don't want you all to get in trouble. They need to be turned in."

Archie jumped off of his platform and strode towards her. Once he was in front of her, she reluctantly looked up.

"You sure about this, lassie? I know they've personally hurt you and taken you away from your home, so why are you so willing to let them be?" Archie frowned at her.

"Because it's the right thing to do," she implored. She didn't want these people to be in trouble either, especially Archie who seemed like a really good guy, and who reminded her of a giant teddy bear. "They're not worth all of you guys getting in trouble for them."

There was some laughs and Archie's lips twitched up, although Ash had no idea what was funny.

"You're a real sweetheart, you know that?" he told her in amusement. He turned to his people then. "You heard the lass! Put these bastards together and shove 'em back into the cargo box! We'll drop 'em off where they belong. If not at the bottom of the ocean, then with the cops!"

"You bastards got lucky!" the exotic woman yelled. "You're really lucky the lass is a sweet one, and worried with the likes of us folks!"

No one was able to say another word then, as suddenly the ship was violently smashed into.

"Everyone hold on!" Archie screamed. "All hands on deck. Matt, what's the situation?"

"Boss, there's…there's a pokémon smashing against the side of our hull!" a shirtless, muscular man yelled back. "It looks like it's a…It's Kyogre!"

Ash perked up, wondering what Kyogre was doing around there. She thought he would have swam off and gone as deep and far away as he could, keeping away from civilization. And yet here he was…But why?

She looked around, even as she realized Archie was holding onto her while holding onto a pole, trying to keep her from flying off and rolling off of the ship. People screamed as they were thrown off the vessel, smashing into things on the ship, or even as they were in the waters around it. The violent sways of the ship wasn't helping anyone to keep balanced and staying on the boat, but plenty of people had also managed to find ways to stay on, a lot of them getting their pokémon out and helping them from being thrown off.

"Archie, Archie," she said urgently. He looked at her hurriedly, visibly gritting his teeth. "I think I can do something to stop this!"

"There ain't nothing you can do, luv. This here is a beast of the waters. It'll be wanting a reckoning! Arceus damned if we have that stupid Red Orb, instead of the Blue Orb like we needed!"

Ash bit her lip before making a decision. Using the distracting chaos around her as well as surprise, she harshly pushed herself away from Archie and ran towards the side of the ship. She threw herself forward to try to use momentum and toss herself over, landing with a hard splash into the icy waters.

She couldn't swim. She knew she couldn't swim, but she needed to get to Kyogre. She tried to swim towards him, but she was panicking in the waters and thrashing more. However, she felt the familiar feel of Kyogre pushing against her, and then she was being pushed towards the surface. Breaking through the water, she breathed in a huge gulp of air, even as she shivered from the cold. Kyogre was calm underneath her, no longer thrashing himself against the ship they were beside.

Ash caressed his head and looked into Kyogre's eyes, and was surprised to see worry in them.

"Did you come to find me and wanted to get me off of the ship?" she asked, taken aback.

He gave a musical, whining sort of sound, and she nuzzled his head.

"Oh, sweet, sweet, Kyogre. Thank you for coming after me."

She looked up and saw Archie (and a few of his group) gaping down at her. She waved back at him.

"It's okay! Kyogre was just worried about me!"

She couldn't really figure why they were all looking at her in amazement and awe.

* * *

Remembering Maxie's frequent grumbling and sometimes even rants about his rival Hoenn boss, she was surprised she hadn't recognized and thought of Archie as the boss of Team Aqua sooner. Finding out now made her feel like giggling, given her previous thoughts about the Teams, and how it just kept coming true.

However, then she remembered Maxie, how she'd left him, her time in Team Magma, and her depression. She was still unable to fully shake it off, or stop thinking of herself as disgusting and worthless. And she still couldn't stop feeling tired and unhappy, despite the second wind she seemed to have gained from the knowledge that Giovanni remembered her and was looking for her.

She just felt terrible about herself, and it was hard for her not to.

"You look like a sad pup," Archie snuck up on her, teasing as he made to lay back on the railings.

She blushed and picked at her new uniform, her old clothes useless and gotten rid of.

"Sorry. I know I'm supposed to be mopping the deck, but I got distracted with my thoughts."

He waved her off. "Eh, you've been working harder than the others, so you can be excused. Everyone knows you're a good girl anyway. Plus, you're a better cook. Maybe I should have put you on cooking duty, instead of Matt?" He shook his head. "I got distracted now too. Now spill it, Ash. Why are you looking sad?"

Ash looked down, feeling herself become unhappy again. "It's really nothing," she lied. He knew it too, as he gave her a look. She gave him a sad smile. "Really, it's nothing."

He forced himself to not push her, but he didn't leave her alone.

"I don't know what to call you anymore," he mused aloud. "I call all the little ladies, 'lass' or 'lassie.' I call the women 'luv.' I can't figure what to make of you, Miss Ancient Tamer."

She blushed again and shrugged. She smiled widely at him. "How about just Ash?"

He grabbed a strand of her hair and tugged it playfully, winking at her with a mischievous grin. "Got it, Ash."

Her face turned fully red then.

He straightened up. "Ever gone swimming before?"

Ash scrunched up her nose, shaking her head. "I don't even know how to swim."

He looked at her in surprise. "And yet you jump off a ship into the sea. Madness, girl. Anyway, let's go!" Archie said as he grabbed her hand and started to lead her off.

"Go? Go where?"

Archie laughed loudly. "I'm going to teach you to swim. Then you can introduce me to Kyogre!"

Offset, Ash just followed him along, shrugging inwardly to herself.

Once they'd set down on a boat onto the waters, they moved only just slightly away from the ship. She hesitantly looked over at the waters, not sure of this.

"Don't worry about the temperature," Archie reassured her of that at least. "This boat, and I bet Kyogre, keep the waters around them warm. You'll be fine."

Soon enough, he'd gotten her into the water, and she saw he was right. Kyogre continued to drift nearby, still shadowing the boat ever since he had caught up to it and Ash.

"Not cold?" Archie asked.

"No actually," she turned, but found herself caught off guard and blushing once again as she came into contact with Archie's chest. Backing away, she could see his torso was bare, though he at least wore swimming trunks.

Time passed after that and Archie patiently taught her how to swim. It was strange because she didn't think he was used to being so patient about things.

"Let's take a break," Archie suggested, and Ash agreed.

She rested against the side of the boat, too tired to pull herself up. The water gently splashing against her felt soothing, and she relaxed to it. When she looked at Archie though, she found herself wondering at his scrutinizing look. He swam closer to her, and she was suddenly trapped against the boat as his muscular arms grasped the railings on either side of her.

"You looked sad earlier," he said flatly. She didn't deny it, so he softened his look and tone. "Sometimes you really do, but I can never figure why."

" _My, princess~ Look at how pitiful you are. Worthless."_

Ash flinched, looking blankly down. She felt Archie tilting her head up then, and she looked into his eyes. They were so sweet and tender.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he murmured. "Inside and out, you're bloody gorgeous. Ain't anyone like you in the universe. And I know all of the pretty, little baubles in the world put together can never compare to you."

She looked at him in amazement. And to be honest, she'd been so miserable and close to giving up before. Then she heard about Giovanni, and that had been her lifeline that she had clutched desperately onto. But she still struggled and couldn't completely keep herself from going under…until now.

He was suddenly even closer than before, the distance closing between them as his body started to touch against hers. He ducked his head and leaned in.

"All the empires in the world would have waged war for you, dear Helen. And Troy would have been left burning a long time ago."

Archie kissed her then, and she felt like she could believe and love herself again.

His hands moved from the railings of the boat, to travel to her waist underwater. From there, Archie gripped them tightly and brought her against him, and she could feel his erection straining against his trunks. He kept to himself though and didn’t go further than that, and Ash contemplated everything in her life and for that moment. So she reached down between them and grasped his manhood, massaging him in her hand. He groaned against her mouth, while bucking up against her.

He reached down, pushing aside her swimsuit’s bottom panty line, and inserted a thick, blunt finger into her. He moved it around in a circle, kissing along her neck and jawline as he pleasured her. As she began to whimper and clutch onto his back, he inserted another finger. He rapidly began to harshly thrust his fingers in and out of her until she came, her back arching. However, he didn’t stop then, continuing until he started inserting more and more fingers. Soon enough, all five of his fingers had grouped together and were thrusting into her cunt and impossibly filling her, fisting it mercilessly.

“Archie! I-I’m going to cum again!” she gasped.

He grunted against her. “Cum, babe. It’s okay. Cum for me!”

Her toes curled in the warm water and her body tensed, then she was coming again. But before she could relax, he had pulled down the straps of her one-piece and had her breasts fully revealed to him. She didn’t have time to blush, as Archie surged forward and mouthed one eagerly. He sucked on it and licked the mound, happily nipping at her nipple in turn. He just as eagerly repeated his actions with the other breast, and switched off every few seconds.

He backed off, but only with his mouth. His hands took over, squeezing her breasts and happily pinching her nipples until the peaks hardened. He pushed them together, and then playfully moved them in circular movements, going in opposite directions of each other.

“Get on the boat, alright?” he said gruffly.

Breathing heavily, she nodded and pulled herself onto it, and Archie helped her up as he grasped her waist and hefted her up.

“Spread your legs,” he told her and she did.

When he started to move in towards her covered pussy, she stopped him while her face flushed bright red.

“We’re…we’re visible,” she glanced nervously at the ship. “Anyone can see us!”

He grinned roguishly at her. “All the better! Let’s give ‘em a show.”

And then he plunged in and his facial hair momentarily tickled her, before her mind was busy in pleasure as his tongue found her clit and began playing with it. Right before she was close to the edge, this time he stopped. Before she could cry about it, he clambered onto the boat and over her, moving aside her one piece’s panty line again, and grasping his cock. He plunged it in, but this time his movements were slow and unhurried. He thrust lovingly into her, and the gentle waves of the ocean guided their movements, both of them rocking to the water’s swaying.

Even as he came into her and they just lay there and rested, the ocean continued their rocking for them.

* * *

There was dancing and lights, and everyone was drinking and having a good time. Ash didn't know why everyone was there, or why they were all partying. After earlier with Archie and then introducing him to Kyogre, night had come and they had finally come back onto the ship. But she hadn't expected any of this, or why any of it was going on.

Archie embraced her from behind.

"Happy 17th," Archie murmured into her ear.

Oh! She'd forgotten her birthday. She'd remembered, having seen the calendar in Archie's room, and had mentioned it not too long ago, but she'd not remembered that day.

"Boss! Don't you hog the lass!" Shelly hollered from her perch on top of a crate. "Bring 'er 'ere!"

"To the party?" he grinned widely at her.

She laughed freely and nodded. "Let's go!"

He pulled her along and then pulled her into an unfamiliar dance that she quickly caught onto, the fast jig fun and wild for her. He leaned in at the end of it, whispering into her ear.

"What do you want for your birthday, Ash?"

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "I want to go home."

He smiled a little sadly at her.

By the end of the night, he'd announced their heading in Johto's direction.

Started 9/23/15 – Completed 9/24/15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Archie: I don't like his new image. It scares me and his wetsuit looks weird and impractical XD I just…no. If you want to know what I prefer to picture him as, the fanart of him and Dawn (the singular one ever made, I'm sure), that's pretty much how I see him. His outfit is based off the new Aqua uniforms, except combined with his old plain outfit kind of.
> 
> 2\. The Regions' Legends: As always, I always really appreciate my stuff here looked at, since they don't receive a lot of attention. "Kitty Claws" is my most popular there, though I really hope to see some more attention and reviews coming towards "The Book of Eve" and "The Book of Mal."


	16. What Comes Around

Ash breathed in the smell of the sea, enjoying the gentle (if swift) sway of the water underneath her.

She felt reborn again. A bit older, a bit wiser and experienced…but like she could still reclaim the Ash she had been and always was. She didn't feel like she was drowning anymore.

A warm, calloused hand was placed on her stomach, rubbing it slightly. She opened her eyes to see Archie grinning down at her and blocking the sun.

"Thinking again?" he asked.

"But not sad thoughts," she smiled slightly at him.

He sat back to make room for her to sit up and she leaned into him, placing her forehead against his damp shoulder. Under them, Kyogre continued to keep pace with the S.S. Aqua, which was making the last leg of its journey to Johto.

"I'm sorry we can't take you to Kanto, but the region's locked up like a cage," Archie told her. "No one in or out without permission and careful observation, and you know," he gestured to himself and his ship. "We're not going to be the type to pass inspection."

Ash giggled a little, but she understood. She wouldn't want Archie and the others to get arrested, especially when they were just trying to get her home. Archie smiled slightly to himself, watching her be in better cheer than she had been. He pulled her into a kiss.

"You pick yourself up," he told her. "You keep picking yourself up, you hear me? Don't you ever let anything or anyone drag you down to that level ever again."

"I promise," she swore, because she could remember everyone this time and hold onto them and her cherished memories.

"Good girl," he approved with a fond grin, and moved himself so that he could sit side by side with her. They looked out to the setting sun. "This is still really, really cool, you know that?" he patted Kyogre.

Ash smiled widely. "It is!"

Kyogre made an amused sound from underneath them.

* * *

Cyrus washed his hands, barely looking over to the unconscious trafficker on the floor.

"Another, Cyrus?" Saturn asked, though Cyrus couldn't tell if he was exasperated at another trafficker to clean up after or if he was asking Cyrus if he wanted another trafficker be brought in.

"Another," he stoically answered, choosing to think he'd meant the latter. Before Saturn could leave though, "Has all the bases of the traffickers been located in Sinnoh?"

Here, Saturn grinned darkly. "Yes, sir. All the information we've received from our Rocket allies indicated where every single one of them has been located. We just finished extraction for the victims yesterday, and are currently placing the explosives in place."

Satisfied, Cyrus dismissed him. He glanced at the pool of blood left behind, and thought back to when –of all people –Giovanni Rocketto had stormed into his office –his  _Galactic_  office –and had snapped him out of it. He was grateful for it, because now he was able to focus and get his aggression out.

If he couldn't show up those traffickers, he'd get the information and smoke them out afterwards.

His phone rang then and he frowned. Seeing who it was, however, he answered it quickly.

"Giovanni," he greeted his fellow boss, which was still a surprise.

"Cyrus," Giovanni greeted back irritably. Cyrus stiffened up, but knew that tone wasn't furious so Ash was hopefully still okay. "Steven Stone contacted me recently. Apparently, his uncle was a buyer for some traffickers and was arrested when Stone found out, however his uncle escaped police custody. That's not really important."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow slightly. "What is then?"

"He'd bought Ash."

That had Cyrus tensing up and clenching his hands tightly.

"I have to head back to Johto for some sort of emergency," Giovanni's irritation heightened. "So I need you to head to Hoenn to check it out and find out more from Stone. See if you can track down the other Team Bosses, find out if they know anything. If they won't cooperate, I'll have my Rockets in that region help you out," he ended in a dark tone.

"Very well. I'm finishing up here and will leave Jupiter and Mars in charge, while I take Saturn with me."

"Good. Colress will meet you over at Hoenn, along with Serena."

They exchange a few more words before they hung up. Consequently, Cyrus closed his eyes as he remembered Jupiter and Mars bringing Giovanni in and finding his will again.

_Cyrus was morosely staring out his window again, when the doors to his office burst open and an unlikely person strode in. One of his business associates was there, and Cyrus had to admit he'd been surprised by the appearance of Giovanni Rocketto, especially in this particular office._

" _Brooding won't do you any good," Giovanni said brusquely, observing him. "If you wanted to help her, then do something yourself and not just make orders. Make the traffickers pay. Make them squeal for Arceus' sakes. Don't let them run around on your turf. This is your home ground. So do something about it."_

_Cyrus felt himself straightening up, torn between glaring at the other and agreeing. He went with both._

" _Of course I will," he snapped at Giovanni. "If I can find those bastards!"_

_Giovanni started smirking. "I've got a nice little birdy willing to tell all. He's pretty in the know, so I bet he can tell me some things about this region's group of traffickers. Are you really willing to do something now?"_

" _Yes," he said firmly._

Cyrus made good on his promise to Giovanni and to himself. He just needed to make good on his promise to Ash now.

* * *

Ash waved goodbye on the shores of Goldenrod City. Archie and his crew waved back, though they had to make a quick retreat less they be seen and caught. When she could no longer see them, she turned to face the city she was left in, before finally making her feet move. She asked around about a place for transportation, trying her best to be careful. Thankfully, her luck was holding out and she even managed to find a bus that was heading to Ecruteak City. From there, it would be a quick road to Mahogany Town, where Archie had told her he had a contact that would be able to take her to Kanto finally.

She was excited and couldn't wait. She could be home soon, in no less than a couple of weeks maybe. She just had to continue to be patient and careful.

Getting on the bus, Ash settled in for a long drive and hummed to herself under her breath. During the drive, she couldn't help falling asleep. A sudden jolt later found herself waking up to the day having turned dark and the bus having stopped.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen! We have arrived to our destination. For further information or any questions, please politely line up. Otherwise, you all may disembark in an orderly fashion!"

Rubbing at her eyes, Ash got up and was quick to exit the bus quietly. She looked around and warily eyed the city. She didn't want to roam around it in the dark of the night, finding a place to sleep. Looking to the other side of the bus, she oddly felt like something was calling her out to that direction. Taking a risk, she chose that way instead, and saw it led to a trail outside the city. There was an old, hidden sign that called it the 'Bellchime Trail.'

She continued in this direction until she ended up in front of an old, beautiful tower. Cautiously entering it, she found another sign calling it the Bell Tower, matching the name of the trail. Deciding this would be a good place to sleep for the night, Ash made to find a comfortable niche to settle in. Once she'd found one though, she found she couldn't sleep and wanted to explore the tower. Curiously moving around a floor, she kept going until she was all the way to the top. On the last floor until the roof, she stopped in surprise when she saw she wasn't alone.

A magnificent, large bird rested in the middle of the cavernous room, glittering gold and red swirling with green. Ash watched it in awe, but then as she moved to head back down, her shoe scuffed against something and made a noise, causing the great avian to stir and then awake. It looked at her in the eye and tilted its head. Then it made a beautiful trilling sound and stood up, expanding its wings. When it looked to her, Ash got the feeling it wanted her to come closer.

Hesitantly doing so, once she was near she could intuitively tell this pokémon was a she and wouldn't do her any harm. In fact, the moment she was within reach, she enveloped Ash within her wings and held Ash close.

Ash sighed contentedly, feeling warm and safe. If whatever this pokémon was would be so kind to her, she could feel herself fill up with hope again.

Ash fell asleep, and Ho-Oh trilled in both happiness and sadness as she watched over her.

But the morning dawned bright and early for Ash, and the pokémon of the night before was nowhere to be seen. Deciding to get an early start, and to leave before she could be caught and found, Ash left the tower and then navigated her way through the city until she was at the entrance of the route that would help lead her to Mahogany Town. It would be quite a walk, but the distance wasn't really too bad.

After a few routes, Ash tiredly found herself in Mahogany. She was surprised she'd made it, but it had taken her all of the morning and most of the day to make the trip. It kind of made her excited, given it was kind of like how if she had actually been on a real pokémon journey and was traveling on the road.

When she looked up, just quickly she caught the rainbow trailing lights of the pokémon she saw before, flying ahead and disappearing into the clouds. Smiling widely, Ash continued her trek into the town. It was rather small and it didn't take her long until she found the only store there. It was, amusingly enough, called "Just a Souvenir Shop." Ash entered it and noted the various pokémon stuff being sold, as well as things for humans too. The big thing being sold there was something called a Rage Candy Bar.

"Can I help you, young lady?" a creepy old man walked towards her.

Hesitantly, she looked around. She pointed at the candy bars on the shelf. "Are those really good?"

The old man chortled. "Of course they are! Bruno of the Elite Four adores them, as does Professor Rowan of Sinnoh. They're a yummy delicacy, young lady. I'll even cut you a deal."

Eager, Ash nodded before inwardly shaking herself. She was supposed to find Archie's contact, who he told her would be in Mahogany Town and would be in a store. Since this was the only store, his contact would be here soon.

"Ah, sorry, mister," Ash said instead. "Maybe I should wait. I'm supposed to meet someone here."

"Someone? Who would you meet here?"

She hesitated, before deciding to ask the old man. "I'm supposed to meet someone here that a man named Archie said could help me."

The old man frowned and then went to the door, locking it and flipping the open sign to close. Ash grew wary and tensed up.

"Well, young lady, are you the Ash that Archibald Aogiri sent word to the Team Rocket base here was supposed to come?" he asked seriously, and Ash blinked at hearing about Team Rocket.

"Um, I guess so," she answered.

He nodded and went to a cabinet, moving it to reveal a secret entrance.

"Come with me."

Ash hesitantly followed the old man down the stairs, to what she assumed was the first floor of the basement. There were a ton of Persian statues, elegantly made and reminding her of the beautiful Persian that she remembered Giovanni having.

"This is Petrel's operation," the old man informed her. "He'll be back soon, and he'll be the one to take you to Kanto. For now, you'll have to wait it out here. There are other Rocket agents, so you must wear a uniform to not bring any suspicion to you."

Ash nodded to show she understood. At the end of the floor, they turned into a hallway and slipped into a room, where there were multiple clothes racks with many sizes of the Rocket uniform.

"Choose your size and change into it," the old man told her. "You may roam around after, but be careful of what you do and say. I must return back to the shop and keep watch. If you need anything, come to me."

Ash gave him a small smile and he left. She then browsed the room, trying to find her size. Finding her size for the uniforms, she grabbed them and then some boots, and then changed into them. Afterwards, she browsed around that floor, finding that it contained a few rooms that contained bunks, separate shower rooms, and a small break room that had a kitchenette. She went into the second floor and saw the generator, that had a few Rockets working there, and then the last floor had a lot of workstations which had even more Rockets around.

She hoped this wouldn't be a long wait, though for her, a little longer was fine given how long she'd waited already to get home.

* * *

Ash had become bored in her wait, so she'd come to offer her help, eventually being mistaken as a new recruit by the other Team Rocket members. Well, it wasn't like she hadn't officially or unofficially joined the other Teams and worked for them. She might as well join this one and make it a full collection.

"Hey! Come on," one of the other grunts, Fred, yelled to her. "We're going to be late! We should've been at the lake base 10 minutes ago!"

"Coming!" Ash answered back, swiping her uniform newsies cap off the table and putting it on her head.

She joined the rest of the group in the black van, and sat down as it was started to drive towards the Lake of Rage.

"Rage Bar?" Paul, another grunt, asked her as he ate one and held out another.

Fred snickered. "If you hand her one, the others will mysteriously vanish!"

Ash pouted. "Quiet, Freddie!" Nevertheless, she accepted it amidst laughter.

"You think we're going to see that rampaging Gyarados?" Grant, Fred's usual partner, asked them nervously.

"I thought that was a rumor," Ash bit her lip.

"Who knows what those scientists up there are up to," Paul grunted. "Almost makes me want to join the groups focusing on the trafficker hunt."

At that, Ash perked up. She had known, since her time with Siebold, that Team Rocket had mysteriously and vehemently taken up the job of hunting down and putting down the traffickers with a vengeance, unmercifully punishing them.

"Well, I don't think you'll have to wait too soon on that," Grant told him. "It looks like slowly all the units are being turned around and focusing on the traffickers; there aren't really many units that aren't these days. Not that I mind –my sister was telling me the other day how she'd almost been taken when she went to the store. Looks like they're getting desperate in these parts, 'cause we're running them down. But I'd mess those bastards up the next time I see 'em! Mess with my family, I tell ya."

"Here, here!" Fred agreed.

The van stopped and they then piled out of the car. In the distance, they could hear yells and screams and they traded looks with each other. They started to run towards the lake, where they saw a giant, red Gyarados rampaging in the waters and attacking the grunts there.

"Well, crap. You jinxed us, Grant," Fred gaped in horror at the furious pokémon. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

Ash stared as well. She didn't want anyone to get hurt, and she could also feel the Red Gyarados was angry and in pain. She had to do something.

Not thinking about it, she ran towards the angry beast and waded in the water. She then, using the swimming lessons Archie had given her, dived into the lake and began to swim towards the Red Gyarados. Its lower body was angrily swaying under the water, but Ash managed to maneuver herself around it and get to its side. She then clambered onto it and made a suicidal decision to climb up its long length and make her way onto the Gyarados' head. By the time it noticed her, it was too late and Ash was on its head. However, it still tried to violently shake her off, tossing its head back and forth.

At least it was distracted enough by her that the rest of her fellow Rocket grunts were getting out of harm's way. Unfortunately, that didn't include her unit, who were loyally waiting around if she needed assistance or something. Still holding on, she managed to whisper soothing nonsense into the Red Gyarados' ear, petting its head calmly. She was relieved as it began to calm down, and she realized she could tell it was a she.

"Hey, girlie!" she heard an unfamiliar voice yell. She looked to who it was, seeing an older man with lavender hair and goatee, and who was currently smoking heavily. He held up a pokéball. "Catch!"

Ash automatically held out her hands and managed to catch the pokéball from the unknown Rocket member. She then hesitated, looking down at the Red Gyarados, who was now calm and quiet. Her eyes glanced up at her and she swam towards the shore, lowering her head for Ash to get off. When Ash did, the pokémon then waited patiently and she unsurely tapped the pokéball against the Red Gyarados' head, sucking her inside the pokéball. She waited a few moments as it shook and then it stopped, signaling she'd caught the Gyarados.

There was slow clapping, and the smoking man came closer to her.

"Not bad, kid," he complimented her. "I'm Petrel."

Ash stared at him before giving a huge sigh of relief. "You're finally here!"

To say he and her unit was confused was an understatement.

* * *

"Well…this is sort of awkward."

The three bosses glared at Colress, but he unflinchingly stared back while raising a single blond eyebrow.

"It is, isn't it? Three of you men, all with very important, intimate relationships with one girl, and all of you here together and confronting each other. I'm a bit jealous, though my main concern at the end of the day was at least she was happy. She was happy, wasn't she?" he asked them with a worried frown.

"Yes," Archie said firmly, while Cyrus nodded stiffly.

Maxie flinched however. "I don't know. She…she seemed so sad and miserable, and I was trying my best to make her happy."

"If we follow the timeline, she came to you after she was kidnapped from me and…taken by that Miranda," Cyrus scowled down at the floor.

Maxie inhaled sharply, his eyes closing. "When I first saw her, there was so much blood. So, so much blood…"

Everyone in the room stiffened up and watched him unhappily, trying not to imagine it.

"Her back was horribly wounded," Maxie confessed. "It bled so much and it took a long time for it to heal whatsoever."

"She ran away from you, yeah?" Archie asked him, with a morose tone. "I knew she was unhappy. She was a miserable wreck at first, which hadn't been helped since she'd been brought aboard my ship by her  _owner_ ," he spat out. The others were infuriated as well. "I think part of that was because she didn't feel good about herself, and had a low opinion about herself."

"It couldn't be helped," Colress sighed. "She didn't mean to be unhappy or to run away from you, and as your letter from her indicated, she was full of insecurities. You said she wrote that she didn't feel worthy being with you and that she didn't know how you felt, right?" At Maxie's nod, Colress continued. "Then whatever happened between her and that Miranda woman had unsettled her enough before she'd come into your care, that it had deeply been ingrained into her and upset her mind."

"I wish I could've done something though," Maxie said in frustration. "Or said something. It took him to help her, when I couldn't do anything," the red head glared bitterly over at Archie.

The bigger man shrugged nonchalantly. Colress immediately cut in and continued, before a fight could break out between those two.

"That said, Archie, you said that you'd brought her over to Johto, right? Why not Kanto, which is her home?" Colress remembered that tidbit.

Archie made a face. "Kanto's locked down. That Giovanni's got the region all boarded up and maximum security. Me and mine would've gotten arrested before we could've gotten Ash to her home."

Colress actually snorted and started laughing, drawing Archie's ire and Maxie's annoyance. Cyrus, however, understood, though he found it less funny and more exasperating.

"Giovanni Rocketto is the  _boss_  of Team Rocket," Colress revealed to the shock of the other two, and dismay as well for Archie. "If he'd known you had the girl he's been looking for for the past few years, he would've gotten you into Kanto no problem."

"It is good use of his personas," Cyrus mused. "His public persona as Giovanni the gym leader and business mogul is pushing progress on the public and legal side of things, when dealing with the traffickers. And as the Rocket Boss, he's able to do the more illegal and inhumane things needed to fully take out these people."

"You thinking of doing something like that?" Archie glanced at the thoughtful Galactic Boss.

"Yes," Cyrus confirmed. "I've a lot of pull as well, if not as much as Giovanni. But it'll be enough to push things through, where needed."

"I miss her," Colress said suddenly. The others looked at him, giving him mixed emotions with what he said, slightly upset he brought that up. Jealous, upset to be reminded she's not there with them, worried…"I miss her bright smile, the way her eyes lit up. I miss her."

All other emotions left them, aside from longing and affection.

"I do too," Archie echoed.

And so did the others, but they could only hope that at least she was heading home.

* * *

"I can't go home yet?" Ash asked Petrel, feeling upset.

"Sorry, kid," he gave her an apologetic look. "Boss is coming soon and I have to wait for him. I've got important…cargo that I've retrieved and he would want to deal with. Afterwards, you can even leave with him to go back to Kanto. He's sympathetic to your problems. You know what the Team's been like with this whole trafficking hunt. He's the one who started this thing, so you can bet he wouldn't mind taking you home."

She nodded reluctantly. "Can I ask what's the cargo?"

She felt uneasy and a little disturbed at his sadistic grin, showing a different side to nice guy she'd met.

"Some little bitch named Miranda. A high-up trafficker I caught on a ship heading back to Kanto from Sinnoh. We've been looking for this one for a long time, and now we've finally got her," Petrel practically crowed in triumph.

Ash froze up at who he said he had, not wanting to flashback to that time where she'd been chained up and at the mercy of Miranda. Petrel noticed her reaction.

"You know her?" he asked. "Recognize her, kid?"

She had started to curl into a ball on her seat, closing her eyes and trying to block it out. But she couldn't and she was going to be lashed at again and –

Gloved hands took hold of her arms and she blinked, raising her head to face a concerned Petrel.

"You don't have to deal with her," he said quietly. "She's not your problem anymore and you don't have to see her at all. I promise, kid, she's going to get what's coming to her."

Ash let out the breath she'd been holding in, ending up sniffling a little. She gave him a small smile.

"Alright, time to head back to the Mahogany base," Petrel stood up and stretched, dropping his cigarette onto the ground and snuffing it out with his foot. "Let's get out of here, huh?"

Ash followed him to the van, where her unit had been waiting and had cautiously been eavesdropping, since they'd only been a foot away from where she and Petrel had been talking. And then Petrel was driving the van back and parking it nearby the store. The group of them entered the store, greeting old man Trowa, and then going down the secret staircase. They entered the first floor, where the guys around her paused. Wondering why, she looked to where they were looking to. But she couldn't hear anything, not even Petrel greeting their boss.

Her eyes alighted on the man she hadn't forgotten in the 16 years she had waited for him.

Without another care, Ash ran towards Giovanni Rocketto and let herself cry out everything the past few years had piled onto her, only wanting to be with him. She could see his eyes find her the moment she pushed passed Petrel, widening as he recognized her, and the shock settle in once she'd started running. Her tears flew passed her face as she ran, and she threw herself at him when she reached him.

He caught her easily, his arms tightening around her protectively. As she cried into his chest and he murmured soothing things onto the top of her head, all she could think of was  _home._

_Homehomehomehomehome…_

It repeated in a chant in her mind, because that's what she felt at the moment. Being in his arms, it didn't seem to matter that she wasn't in Pallet or even in Kanto.

In Giovanni's arms, it felt like she was finally home.

Started 9/29/15 – Completed 9/29/15


	17. Reunion

She was there.

She was  _there_.

After all this time, Giovanni saw her. He almost couldn't believe his eyes, but no matter how much older she'd become, no matter how much she'd become a young lady, he could still recognize her.

Shock, disbelief, relief. He felt a lot of emotions run through him. But the moment she ran towards him, face full of tears, he had no other thought than to catch her and hold her. She felt real and solid in his arms, her small hands clutching onto him. Her soft crying made him actually choke up himself, especially after finally having found the one girl he'd ever chased in his life, even if it had been like this.

Ash Ketchum was safe and whole in his arms.

Burying his face into her head one last time, inhaling her scent and still unbelieving she was alive and well and with him finally, Giovanni reluctantly took a glance up to see his Executive Petrel and a few of his grunts staring in shock. Giving them a light glare, he gestured for them to leave the two of them alone, and soon he and Ash were the only ones left on that floor.

After a moment more, he even more reluctantly pulled away from her. As she took that time to rub at her face, he observed her more fully. She looked tired and obviously her face was slightly red from crying. She was also taller than he would have guessed, though still much shorter than him. Her eyes were the same shade of honey gold he remembered, if looking much older and wiser. She was also, something he hadn't thought too much of or focused on, physically older than the girl in the photo he cherished.

It was…strange for him. Seeing her now, as she was, made him understand and see that the time and experience she'd gone through had matured her in all the areas that counted, and that though he'd always cared and had even been a little too attached to her, seeing her now made him see her much more differently than he had and affected him just as differently.

She had grown from the girl who he'd affectionately gave the title of wife, to the young lady that he really could see be his wife.

It was such an extraordinary and odd thought, and yet it seemed right and something he should never have been surprised about. Truthfully, after all this time, it was more a long time coming and something that probably had been inevitable in the end.

"And here we are, 10 years later, huh?" he finally said, smiling gently at her.

She blinked before beaming happily at him through watery eyes, and it took a moment for him to remember to breathe.

In all that time away, she had really grown up and Giovanni couldn't help but notice.

"You were really looking for me?" she asked wondrously.

He nodded slightly. "I did. And I kept coming after you, only to just end up being a few steps behind every time. I wish I could've gotten to you sooner."

She hugged him tightly. "I'm just happy you came after me," she whispered.

Threading his hand through her hair, he squeezed her tightly before pulling back.

"I was here for Miranda and was glad that we'd finally caught her…but finding you here was so much more important and an even better find than her. I'll have you taken to Kanto straight away, while I'll have Petrel send that woman over to the main headquarters," Giovanni told her.

She was both excited at the prospect of finally getting home (and she had no doubt about it this time), but terrified of Miranda being anywhere near her. Giovanni noticed her reactions.

"Don't worry,  _dolcezza_ ," he reassured her. "She won't be a worry for you anymore. I promise."

Though Ash believed him wholeheartedly and knew he'd keep his promise no matter what, she also couldn't help remembering all those times with Miranda and feeling that fear again. But she was with Giovanni now and he'd protect her.

"To home," he gave her a gentle smile. "And if you are up to it, why don't you tell me everything that's happened to you while you were away? If you can handle it, of course."

Ash gave him a small nod and smile.

It was an amazing thought, but she was actually finally going home.

* * *

Petrel eyed the woman in chains, taking one long inhale of his cigarette. While he wasn't a chain smoker, he was a pretty heavy smoker alright…

"Do you think I'd really beg?" her amused, though hoarse, voice made him frown.

She would've been pretty if she hadn't endured two days in a crate, before she'd been brought onto a ship controlled by Rockets and handcuffed to the bars in the brig (and where they saw fit to only give her water every three days and minimal food every two days). He remembered how she'd looked before she'd been captured though, right before he'd gotten his hands on her and kidnapped her from her transport (serves her right –how'd she like the turnaround?)

"No, not at all," he said in boredom, flicking his cigarette at her and some of his ashes landing on her face.

She moved her face away, sneering at him. He just grinned at her in amusement.

"I'm not interested in hearing you beg at all," he said truthfully. "Not my thing. And, well, hearing you beg means I have to offer you something or care to hear you out and maybe contemplate mercy. But the thing is…I'm not. I just want to focus on drawing it out, making you scream. I don't want to hear any words, there won't be any mercy –you don't like giving mercy to  _your_ victims, right? So no, you don't have to beg. I won't be listening, and wouldn't grant you any mercy if I were to. My only regret is that I have to expend my energy on the likes of you."

She spat at him, but she didn't have enough saliva gathering in her mouth to make much of a difference. Petrel laughed at her and grabbed her hair, yanking her head back and looking down at her furious eyes.

He placed his cigarette against her cheek and sneered back at her, hearing her scream finally.

"How does that feel? Is that something you liked asking your own victims?"

Petrel really felt honest hate for this woman. And he remembered that girl he'd just met, and it just made him all the more furious with this woman.

Little Miss Miranda would find the tables had turned on her.

* * *

After telling him what had happened to her all these years, Ash had fallen asleep on the flight back home. Giovanni had kept a close eye on her, but inwardly he stewed in a mixture of turmoil and mixed emotions.

When he'd finally face that Miranda, he would make her pay for all that she'd done to Ash. Just from what Ash told him, he knew that that woman had traumatized Ash very deeply and had taken a huge impact on Ash's self-image as well as her physical wounds. And this Tobias…

The glass in his hand cracked and he softly cursed under his breath. Looking over at Ash, he saw she was still asleep. He then took the time to clean up his mess, but he still wanted to find that man and murder him in cold blood.

When he'd heard of the man whose name changed frequently, and of whom had been told to him had an interest in Ash and wanted to 'train' her personally…he knew what kind of training and all the things that would have entailed in that training. But it was still just a thought and he'd pushed it out of mind as much as he could.

But now Ash told him what had happened with that man, and Giovanni found he couldn't calm himself down at all. He'd done his best to not react in front of Ash, but he had nearly flown into a rage right then and there. But he wouldn't, not in front of Ash and not so soon after everything for her.

He also couldn't believe how many close calls there had been for her, and that it wasn't fair she kept getting so close to being saved, only to find hope being ripped away from her. And then her having to recount all those times she'd been assaulted or near assaulted, and Giovanni felt like locking her away and never letting her leave his side again.

That was doubly so when he heard about the other bosses.

Jealousy mixed in with the rage then, and he thought that though his newfound, strong attraction to her was still something that caught him off guard, Giovanni had also always thought of Ash as his.

Colress had been a given, because he'd been able to see the other was clearly infatuated, but he also knew it had been one-sided. That was clear to see. But then there was Cyrus, who he sort of knew had  _something_ with Ash, but he had never allowed full thought towards it or thought on how far or mutually it went. But that they'd given the other their first time made him feel possessive and upset.

And then there was Archie and Maxie (and he was fully ignoring the likes of Howard), and Giovanni couldn't help thinking that he'd been first to meet her but last to have her.

"You're thinking really hard about things," Ash said hesitantly, having woken up. "Did I upset you? I'm sorry if I had said some things about my story that could have upset you."

Giovanni blinked and offered a reassuring smile to her. "No, I'm just thinking some selfish thoughts. I will be honest in saying that some of the stuff in what you'd told me had indeed bothered me, but it has nothing to do with you and more really to do with me and how I feel about things."

Seeing she was still unsure, he went to her side and grabbed her hand. "What it is, it's not as important as the fact I'm just glad you are safe and home at last."

She finally relaxed a bit at that, and Giovanni glanced outside to notice that they were descending and that they had finally arrived at the Team Rocket Headquarters in Kanto. He idly squeezed Ash's hand.

"I'll help you get settled here, alright? But I'll inform Professor Oak and your mother that I have you now, and that when you are up to it, I will have you brought over to them so you can reunite with them and decide what you would like to do from then on. Are you alright with that?" he looked to her questioningly.

"Yeah, I think that works," she gave him a tired smile. "I think I really would like to rest some more. I just feel…exhausted all of a sudden."

"You  _have_ been through a very traumatic experience for a long time," Giovanni said lightly. "Perhaps it is all just coming onto a pile on you, and you need to deal with it and how you feel first?"

"That…that sounds good," Ash took a deep breath. "Yes, I would like to rest some more first."

"Understood. I'll make arrangements to head to Pallet Town at a later time and inform them of the good news now, right after I make sure you are settled in okay here."

Ash once again gave him a small smile, and he tried his best to return it with one that would reassure her as he tucked her into his side. The plane landed then, and once it was securely on the ground, Giovanni led her to the plane's exit and led her out of it and towards the large Rocket Headquarters looming in the distance. He got her some clothes to wear, showed her the room she would stay in (one connected to the suite that held his own room), and then showed her the shower she could use. Then he bid her goodbye as he let her get ready, while he went to inform Oak that she was with him now.

He waited as his phone rang, listening impatiently until the other man finally answered.

"Hello?" Oak answered tiredly.

"Oak? It's me, Giovanni," he said unnecessarily. "I've news."

"…Yes?" Oak prodded hesitantly, not sure if he wanted to know and dreading the answer.

"I've found her," he told the other, breaking into a grin as he thought about it. "In fact, I have her with me now. She's taking a shower and going to rest, but I've got her and that's all that matters."

He heard Oak sharply inhale a breath.

"She's…she's okay?"

"As okay as she can be," Giovanni murmured. "I'll let you know more later, and hopefully when she feels ready to return there and see you and her mother again. But for now, she'd said she would prefer to rest first and process finally being home."

"Alright, I understand. I'll let Gary and Delia know. But…thank you, Giovanni. For everything."

"…You're welcome," Giovanni said quietly, hanging up after the other.

* * *

Oak hadn't been able to rest in peace since Ash had been taken. To know she was finally safe and unharmed with Giovanni made relief rush through him.

He couldn't have felt any better.

Which meant that he now had to tell his grandson and Delia about the news. His grandson had become more subdued and less arrogant since Ash's disappearance, and had taken to helping him around the lab more. Gary had even found he'd liked being a research assistant and was maturing faster about things.

Delia on the other hand…

Ash's mother had withdrawn into herself and hadn't left her house since Ash's disappearance. If Oak didn't check in on her every day, Delia would have withered away with the years passing.

"Hey, Gramps, I just fed the Rattata and –Gramps?"

Oak turned to Gary with a faint smile. "Ash was found. She's safe and okay with Giovanni. After she's rested up, we can see her."

Gary smiled widely, true excitement lighting up in him for once. "She is? Shit, that's awesome!"

"Language, Gary," Oak lightly reprimanded, but wasn't up to really lecturing him. He was in too good of spirits to really do so. "Finish up your rounds, alright? Right now, I'm going to go inform Ash's mother about this."

"Uh, yeah, okay," Gary said uncomfortably and left him.

Oak sighed, but understood. Delia made many people uncomfortable.

Getting up from his desk, he took a look around and smiled. It would be nice to see Ash traipsing around there again…

He made his way out of his lab and through his house, before walking down the road to where the Ketchum's house was, frowning at the blinds being drawn. Walking up to the door, he knocked. When there was no answer, he tried the doorknob, only to find it was already opened. Sighing to himself, he went inside the dark house.

"Delia? It's me, Samuel. I've news for you. Good news!"

Still, it was quiet so Oak, like he had been these days, walked up the stairs and found Delia's room, seeing her burrowed into her bed as always. He'd have to persuade her to eat again, drink some water…Going towards Delia, he lightly shook her shoulder.

"Go away, Samuel," her voice was muffled.

"They found Ash," he said straight, hoping it would jolt her into herself for a few moments.

There was silence before Delia dragged herself up in bed and she stared at him, her cheeks hollow and her eyes in disbelief.

"What did you say?" she whispered.

Oak smiled at her. "Ash was found and she's okay. She's resting over in Viridian City right now, but when she's ready, Giovanni will bring her here so we can see her."

Delia let out a sob of relief and grabbed onto Oak, crying into his shoulder.

* * *

When Giovanni went to check on her later on, after helping her to bed and making sure she was set up okay earlier after he'd gotten off the phone with Oak, he frowned by the door as he watched. She was sweating profusely and twisting and turning in bed, a grimace on her face as she slept through what was probably a nightmare.

Going over to her, he did his best to wake her, only for her to wake up gasping and looking terrified. Looking at him, she blinked back some tears and gave him a feeble smile.

"Oh…I thought…I thought that my return was just a dream, and I was still stuck over there and…" she swallowed heavily and he made to sit on the bed next to her.

He rubbed her arms in comfort and gave her an earnest look.

"You're home, Ash. It wasn't a dream."

As Ash's breaths evened out and she calmed down, Giovanni observed her quietly. His hand reached out and cupped her face, and she looked questioningly at him.

"We were born sick," he told her solemnly. "Myself and the other bosses. There was no salvation for the likes of us until you came along."

Her breath hitched and she looked shyly up at him from under her long eyelashes. His thumb went to her lips, stroking it in thought.

"I have done a great deal of things that are horribly despicable, even long before it was in your name," he revealed, and she could imagine a bit because she still remembered hearing about him and his Team burning those traffickers alive, and she also knew now that it had been because of her.

"I have no regrets," he said firmly and then he knelt on the floor before her, clasping her hands in his on her lap. He brought them to his mouth and kissed them. "I should have worshipped you so, so much sooner, Ash."

She drew in a deep, long breath as she stared at him in wide-eyed fascination. He leaned up slightly and kissed her lips, pulling back to stare at her seriously.

"The only heaven I'll be allowed is when I am alone with you,  _mia dolcezza_. So allow me to worship you in bed."

Ash could feel herself stop breathing, staring at this man who thought the world of her and had gone through such lengths to bring her back.

"Yes," she said simply.

He smiled grimly and surged upwards, capturing her lips with his. His hands grasped onto her waist, squeezing possessively as he carried her up and then laid her back onto the bed. Splayed out for him, his eyes darkened while she blushed under his stare.

"I love you," he said and it made her watch him in awe. He found the words had slipped out of his mouth, and yet felt nothing but the truth about them. "I love you," he repeated.

And then Giovanni hooked his hands on the band of her cotton shorts and slipped them down her smooth legs, dragging his fingers against her skin. He leaned down and kissed her stomach, trailing his lips down and kissing on top of the lavender panty she wore.

“I adore you,” he murmured.

His teeth found the top of her panty and began to drag it down, and she lifted her lower half up and he took it off of her.

“I revere you.”

Giovanni spread her legs, his fingers ghosting against her soft curls, her silken folds, and the quivering skin right near her entrance.

“I love you,” he said again. “And I am going to worship you.”

“Giovanni,” she breathed out reverently, but he didn’t want her to. The only one who should be worshipping anyone would be him for her, because she deserved it so much. She was beautiful and infectious and she had been born this way.

Ash was perfect in his eyes.

He let his lips trace down a leg, going all the way down to her toes. His half-lidded eyes looked to her, seeing her watching him in wonder. He smiled at her tenderly and moved upwards and kissed her again, letting his tongue trace her lips and then enter her mouth with fervor. He coaxed her tongue to move with his, pushing back and forth against each other and around. As he continued to kiss her, he shifted up onto the bed, letting his hands wander all over her body, caressing her skin and squeezing her curves.

She breathed out contentedly and he smiled against her neck. Her own hands curiously ran all over his chest and his arms, and then they unwove his tie and slipped it off. She did it slowly, angling it away from the two of them, and he looked at her and watched her mischievous face. He could only laugh lightly and be happy that she was still able to be playful and full of life after everything.

“Can I have you?” she asked, surprising him by doing so.

“I was always yours,” he found himself saying, because it was just almost like fate and he’d never let go of her like she never him.

He took off the rest of her clothes and his own and slipped behind her, holding her close and curling around her protectively. He kissed the side of her neck and nuzzled it, lifting her leg as he rubbed up against her. He shifted a bit to use his other hand to line himself up, and he entered her inch by inch until he was all the way inside and buried deep inside her, drawing a content moan from her.

“Take me, please,” she said breathily, and he took her chin in hand and moved her head back to face him as he kissed her thoroughly, starting to move in and out of her.

Lifting her leg higher, he went even deeper inside of her, moving his other arm underneath her so that he could curl it around her and reach out to stroke her clit as he pounded into her cunt.

“Giovanni!” she screamed out his name.

“That’s it,” he crooned. “I want to hear you, darling. Tell me what you want.”

“More, more! Deeper, Giovanni! Please, go deeper!”

Smiling against her, he spread her even more, lifting her leg higher and bending it towards her a bit, until he had her leg lifted high up into the air.

“Ah, ah! Ngh~ G-go faster! More, Giovanni!” Ash screamed, throwing her head back and opening her mouth in pleasure, focusing on the way he was handling her body.

He’d had her spread wide open and his calloused, thick hands were rubbing her clit rapidly, while his mouth was saying sinful things into her ear at the same time as he landed wet kisses against it and her neck. His large cock was pounding into her, and had quickly found that amazing spot inside of her that made stars burst in her vision.

All of a sudden, he’d flipped her onto her knees, making sure she was still completely spread as he lifted her bottom up so that her ass stuck in the air. His hands gripped onto her hips and then he continued plunging in and out of her, with the new position causing him to go even deeper into her than before.

“Ahhh, so good! Please, Giovanni! Let me cum!” her eyes rolled slightly.

Giovanni grunted slightly, bending himself over her so that he molded his front against her back again.

“Do you want to cum, _dolcezza_?” he purred, smiling darkly. “Say it. Tell me, sweetheart. Tell me!” he demanded.

She whimpered and panted harshly. “Please, please! Please, Giovanni! I want you to make me cum!”

Giovanni pulled away and pulled her back, turning her to face him. Then he lifted her bodily up and encouraged her to wrap her legs around him while he slipped his cock into her again, fucking her upright while holding her up in his powerful arms.

“Giovanni!” she screamed, clutching onto him as he relentlessly rammed into her.

“ _Ash_ ,” he spoke gutturally, and then he sped up and began to fuck her deep and fast until she was sure she couldn’t think of anything.

Her vision blacked out and he poured his cum inside of her while she came with him, feeling her body jerk and convulse with her orgasm.

“Good, so good,” she muttered thoughtlessly, slumping against him.

He held onto her, his arms holding her up and keeping her from falling back bonelessly. He buried his face against her neck, inhaling and smelling peach blossoms. He gave a tiny lick, smirking as he heard her breath hitch.

"Marry me," he said suddenly, causing a small rush of energy to go through her as she jerked slightly to face him in shock. He brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her lips lightly. He reached over to the bedside table and reached in, pulling out a velvet jewelry box. He nimbly opened it with one hand, revealing an elegant diamond ring.

"Marry me, Ash."

"Yes," she choked out, grabbing his face and kissing him blissfully.

Because she did wait 10 years for this, and it seemed amazing that it was finally happening and coming true.

* * *

Ash hummed happily, lying on her back as she examined her ring. Still, despite being happy that she was home and that she was going to marry Giovanni, she couldn't forget those that had helped her while she'd been lost on her way, especially three men she'd fallen in love with as the days and her past kept haunting her in her wayward travels.

When she was about to drown, Archie had kept her up. When she was at her breaking point, Maxie wanted to be and was her glue from splitting at the seams. And when she wanted to float away and not care, Cyrus grounded her and made her care.

The world was a dark place and she knew that now, but she also knew she could weather it and stay strong enough to put herself back together.

A knock on the door drew her attention and she curiously went towards it, opening it to find a pleasant surprise. Serena threw herself at her and Ash happily caught her friend, who cried as she held her tightly.

"Oh, Ash! I'm so sorry," Serena sniffled. "If only I had –"

"Shh," Ash interrupted her fondly. "It wasn't your fault and I never blamed you. Please don't think that way."

Serena reluctantly pulled back and looked her up and down worriedly.

"You're really here," she said in wonder. She bit her lip. "You look okay too. But are you? Are you hurt anywhere, or internally? Should I help you to the doctor or –"

Ash cut her off again. "I'm fine," she swore. "Really."

Serena nodded, though she still watched the other girl warily. "Anyway, Giovanni told me you were here and he told me to bring you to Pallet Town if you were up to it? He had some things he needed to deal with, though he said to tell you that you'll be surprised by them."

Wondering what Giovanni was up to, Ash nodded absentmindedly, though she was ecstatic and yet scared to meet with her little family again after all these years. It's been so long and she wasn't sure what would happen.

And yet, the reality was that she shouldn't have even worried about it at all.

Serena drove her to Pallet, and all three of her loved ones stood in front of her house, watching her come out of the car with teary but happy eyes. She watched them in disbelieving happiness as well, before she let out and a sob and ran towards them. Gary, Sammy, and her mother ran towards her, and she was enveloped in a warm group embrace. She was only just aware enough to realized Pikachu, her beloved Pikachu, was there too and had wiggled himself into her arms, while Maximus (brave, strong, loyal,  _whole_  Maximus), stood nearby protectively.

She was cocooned in happiness and felt like everything she'd suffered through could be just a dream for then.

* * *

Though she was happy to be with them and had wanted to stay, Ash knew that she wasn't sure if she really wanted to stay there. She was safe and secure in the fortress Giovanni commanded over, and she was sure that she felt safer being near him.

So she'd gone back, promising she'd come back to visit frequently. She couldn't help how she felt and she was glad they had actually understood that. So she entered the Rocket Headquarters, heading towards her personal suite and hoping Giovanni wouldn't be busy and be back by then.

The moment she touched her doorknob, she intuitively felt that something was amiss, but it wasn't a bad thing. She turned the doorknob and pushed it open, and felt herself forget to breathe as she saw the three men waiting for her inside.

Maxie gave her a solemn smile, Archie a big dorky grin, and Cyrus a tender smile he reserved only for her.

"I…" she whispered.

In the end, she didn't know what else to say –but it turned out that words weren't needed after all as they all opened their arms and she ran towards them.

Just like with her family, the three of them held her tightly and she felt safe and warm. She found herself holding back tears, tired of crying, but she felt so stupidly happy and was afraid that her happiness was going to be stolen from right under her. Just like always.

A hand softly caressed her head, and she turned her head to see Giovanni giving her a soft smile.

"It's alright, little blackbird. Just be happy and let yourself be so."

She found herself laughing bright and loud, something she hadn't done since she'd left Pallet Town, and felt a little something like freedom embrace her.

The world wasn't weighing down on her so much anymore.

Still, the revelation that she realized made her continue to think. After she'd long left their hold, leaving them to talk business she knew she didn't want to be involved in just yet (maybe never), Ash found Serena again. Her friend looked cheerful at seeing her, but Ash bit her lip and the look on her face alarmed the other girl.

"Serena, you know what I realized?"

Serena shook her head hesitantly, waiting for Ash to continue. There was a part of her that felt she didn't want to let the other continue.

"Even after everything…and mostly because of those four wonderful men that saved me from myself…I think I can still brave this world. I'm not afraid. I  _won't_  be afraid. I'd think I'd like to go on a pokémon journey still."

Still, there was an undercurrent of warning that went through her, and she had the feeling that the world could still come undone for her.

But she refused to live with regrets either.

Started 10/4/15 – Completed 10/5/15

_**End Mad World arc – Begin Brave New World arc** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! First arc finished! But not to worry, there's still more! I hope everyone liked this chapter and enjoyed it. Please review and continue to support this!
> 
> 1\. Giovanni's sex scene: I will say this proves Giovanni's my favorite boss XD I went all out on scene and made it more detailed and longer than the others, I realized afterwards, lol. Also, I've been dying to using Hozier's "Bring Me to Church" for a scene with Ash and Giovanni (though my original scene in my head took place in an apocalypse XD).
> 
> 2\. First arc: Again, this is not finished! On Wattpad, it'll say it's finished, but only because it'll continue as a second book, while here and on FFN the story will continue as is. So no worries it's over! But right now, since the first arc is done, I'll put a pause on this and focus on finishing the first arcs for my two other Pokémon fics.
> 
> 3\. Regions' Legends: Please check out my works on my collaboration! I'm especially anxious about "The Book of Eve" and "The Book of Mal" since they're my least popular fics overall, but "Kitty Claws" is something you guys would probably enjoy!


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